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American actor AnnaLynne McCord faced backlash when she recited an original poem addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin. The internet lambasted the poem as tone-deaf and likened it to Gal Gadot’s infamous 2020 ‘Imagine’ video.
McCord’s poem seemed to suggest that she could have positively influenced him had she been his mother. “Dear President Vladimir Putin, I’m so sorry that I was not your mother,” the ‘90210’ alum began a spoken-word poem she tweeted.
The actor addressed the video to the Russian president after he ordered a military operation in Ukraine on early Thursday.
“I’m so sorry that I was not your mother. If I was your mother you would have been so loved. Held in the arms of joyous light. Never would this story’s plight, the world unfurled before our eyes. A pure demise. Of nation sitting peaceful under a night sky,” said McCord in the video.
The poem continued, “If I was your mother, the world would have been warm. So much laughter and joy, nothing would harm. I can’t imagine the stain. The soul-stealing pain that the little boy, you must have seen and believed and the formulation of thought quickly taught that you lived in a cruel, unjust world. Is this why you now decide no one will get the best of you? Is this why you do not hide nor shy away from taking back the world? Was it because so early in life all that strife wracked your little body with fear?”
Further, into the video, which was over two minutes, McCord expressed, “Oh, dear Mr President Putin, if only I’d been your mother, perhaps the torture of unwrit youth would not within your heart imbue ascription to such fealty against that world that seemed so cruel.”
While some of the actor’s followers argued that she meant well, countless others were perplexed.
Among those who took to social media to comment on McCord’s poem was writer and actor Giulia Rozzi, who commented, “Dear actress AnnaLynne McCord, I am so sorry I was not your mother. If I was your mother I would’ve taught you not to blame women for the behaviour of men.”
Another user referenced McCord’s video and called it “self-involved and careless.”
On Instagram, one user joked, “Gal Gadot’s crown just slipped a little,” while others offered McCord some notes on her prose.
“you gon have to up your rhyme game if you tryna stop a war… this ain’t no lullaby booboo,” one netizen wrote.
Since posting early in the morning, the poem has been viewed 20 million times, retweeted close to 14,000 times and is continuing to receive attention.
