Paul Walter Hauser had an epic online meltdown Monday night, threatening to break people’s arms as he went on an unhinged rant about cancel culture before deleting his Twitter account entirely.
The Cobra Kai actor’s spiral was sparked by a recent New York Times spread in which the publication's film critics Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott listed who they believe should be nominated for this year’s Academy Awards.
Their predictions included several international titles and female-directed films, including Drive My Car by Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Rebecca Hall’s Passing, and The Souvenir Part II by British filmmaker Joanna Hogg.
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But the 35-year-old actor wasn’t impressed, whining about the critics’ picks in a series of since-deleted tweets and reportedly going so far as to call the list “psychotic.”
Hauser’s chief complaint seemed to be that the predictions included too many international films and women directors, while leaving out more mainstream films such as King Richard and Licorice Pizza.
When fans began challenging Hauser for his bad take–which came off as misogynistic and xenophobic–he doubled down, accusing people of trying to cancel him and threatening to break their arms.
“Twitter needs to go shut the fuck up or come say it to my face in public and see how fun it is to wipe their ass with a broken arm,” he wrote, adding that he believes his “valid criticism” didn’t make him “problematic towards women or foreigners.”
Although some tried to talk Hauser off the ledge, attempting to reason with the Cruella actor and saying he was “better than this,” Hauser was having none of it, replying, “No, no I’m not.”
“And so you’re aware, actors like me get canceled over this kind of silly & unproven dogshit because the Twitter gang has nothing else to do,” he added. “They misconstrue 5 words & turn it into a story. I’ll continue to put people in their place and save my hide.”
“Losing my career, which affects me/ my family/ my friends/ my charities/ my son’s life vs. the arm of someone who needlessly cause my downfall,” he wrote in another tweet. “Dude, you have NO idea what the fuck you’re talking about.”
Then, in one last huff, Hauser deleted his Twitter account.
The Daily Beast has reached out to Hauser for comment.
