Actor John Leguizamo Slammed for Praising ‘Beautiful Latinx Faces’ at the Oscars: ‘Virtue Signaling’

Actor John Leguizamo caught some backlash after he praised the “beautiful Latinx faces” in the audience at the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday evening.

“Look at all these beautiful faces out here, all these beautiful Latinx faces,” Leguizamo said, speaking to the Oscars audience. “We got great representation here tonight, people.”

John Leguizamo: "Look at all these beautiful faces out here, all these beautiful Latinx faces. We got great representation here tonight, people." https://t.co/1H1Y9jC9bl#oscars pic.twitter.com/OJz6tYt51K

— ABC News (@ABC) March 28, 2022

The criticism and mockery of John Leguizamo flooded social media.

I wish I was at the Oscars so I could’ve gone Will Smith on @JohnLeguizamo in the name of all the Latinos in the world for calling the Latino community: LatinX and Brown. Show some respect brother.

— Rafa El Alcalde (@ElalcaldeRafa) March 28, 2022

"Latinx?" Does @JohnLeguizamo or @ABC know that ~1% of Hispanics actually use that term? Who am I kidding? Of course not. They can't be bothered when it comes to a truth that poops on their narrative. Shame, I loved Leguizamo in the "Ice Age" series. pic.twitter.com/7gU97sppxC

— Rebecca Downs (@RebeccaRoseGold) March 28, 2022

The lack of head nods when Megan was flowing is proof there wasn't as much diversity in that room as John Leguizamo said there was. #Oscar

— Keith Nelson Jr (@JusAire) March 28, 2022

“Latinx faces”@JohnLeguizamo is virtue signaling to his white liberal friends.

No Hispanic uses this word. Stop trying to make it a thing.

— Giancarlo Sopo (@GiancarloSopo) March 28, 2022

The term “Latinx” to describe Hispanic Americans has faced intense backlash, from Hispanic Americans who overwhelmingly say that they prefer the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” to label their community.

Most recently, a poll of Hispanic Americans across 15 states showed that just 1.7 percent of Hispanics said they use the term “Latinx” while more than 60 percent use “Hispanic” and more than 30 percent use “Latino.”

Even among Hispanic Americans who are registered Democrats, the “Latinx” term is woefully unpopular. The poll found that just 1.6 percent of Democrat Hispanics use the term “Latinx” to describe themselves.

Readers can follow Breitbart News’ coverage of the Oscars here.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.