Eva Longoria was the talk of the town earlier this week when several news outlets reported that she fled the country after Donald Trump beat her presidential choice Kamala Harris and secured a reelection to the White House. Her supposed exit drew mixed reactions on social media, with many MAGA supporters slamming her for it.
So, before things could even get worse, the actress, who does not like to be misunderstood, has spoken up on what really drove her away from the U.S.
On Friday, Longoria took the time to make a phone call to her pal Ana Navarro while the latter was still filming The View’s Behind the Table podcast. Moments before the call, Navarro was sharing her reaction to Trump’s win, specifically how she’s not fine with the different government departments suffering a brain drain because many people who work for those agencies are leaving ahead of Donald’s second term.
The Desperate Housewives star must have been listening to what her friend was saying in the broadcast because her first words were: “Will you please let them know I didn’t move out of the United States because of Trump?” Ana, who appeared clueless about the whereabouts of Eva and her family, asked back, “You had moved before Trump?”
In response, Longoria set the record straight, saying, “No, I’ve been in Europe for three years. By the way, the article says that. And people just grabbed some clickbait stuff to be divisive, which makes me so sad.”
The 49-year-old Hollywood star was referring to her Marie Claire cover story where she talked about being “privileged” enough to be able to move out of California and transfer to another side of the world.
“Whether it’s the homelessness or the taxes, not that I want to s**t on California — it just feels like this chapter in my life is done now. I’m privileged. I get to escape and go somewhere. Most Americans aren’t so lucky. They’re going to be stuck in this dystopian country, and my anxiety and sadness is for them.”
Right after the story was published, Longoria received a lot of flak from Trump supporters on different social media platforms, especially on X. Several shared their negative reactions to her statement and even slammed her acting career.
Others brought up her alleged connection to the disgraced music producer Sean “Diddy” Combs, who is currently facing several lawsuits.
But even though the content of what she said and the timing of the story’s release overlapped with the national election’s results, Eva insisted that her family’s international move was all for work and was not motivated by political reasons.
“I didn’t leave because of the political environment, I left because my work took me there,” she said. “I’ve been there for years, so I just don’t like that it’s politicalized. I’m a proud American — I’ve always been a proud American.”
According to Page Six, Longoria had to move to Spain and Mexico almost three years ago because she was filming her new television series Land of Women. To ensure that she does not miss her family while working on the show, her husband, José Bastón, 56, and their son, Santiago, 6, joined her in the transfer, settling down in Europe with her.