Fact Check: Alicia Silverstone's Mispronunciation of 'Haitians' in 'Clueless' Was Unscripted and Real
Claim:
For her role in the 1990s film "Clueless," Alicia Silverstone mispronounced the word "Haitians" and the director kept it in the movie.
Rating:
A long-standing claim on social media says that actor Alicia Silverstone truly mispronounced the word "Haitians" in the 1995 teen comedy "Clueless," and that the film's director and writer, Amy Heckerling, chose to leave it in the final cut. This claim resurfaced in 2024 — possibly tied to a debunked far-right conspiracy theory that said Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating peoples' pets — with one post to X shared on Sept. 14, 2024, garnering over 3.3 million views, as of this writing.
Never get over learning that Alicia actually did not know how to pronounce Haitians and they just kept it. https://t.co/Hm3qtR9B39
— fragrance and foolishness (@Brieyonce) September 14, 2024
That post had been shared the day prior, receiving even more attention, with 10.8 million views. The claim was also shared on Facebook in 2022, with the account posting the following information about the scene:
Alicia Silverstone (Cher) actually did not know how to correctly pronounce "Haitians" in the classroom scene. Director Amy Heckerling told the crew not to correct her because she liked it so much and wanted it to be in the film.
This claim is indeed true. Silverstone confirmed this during a 2022 interview with entertainment news outlet Looper:
Well, there was one [word] in particular, which is, I think I say, "The Haiteeans." I didn't know it's "The Haitians," and I just kept saying "Haitieeans," and I know that [director] Amy Heckerling stopped the script supervisor because everybody, when I first did it, they all were running to tell me I was saying it wrong. She was like, "stop," and she didn't let anybody go near me because she loved that I was saying it wrong. So there was that.
Heckerling corroborated this claim during a 2015 interview with Vogue, saying that she deliberately prevented anyone from correcting Silverstone's mispronunciation to capture the confidence of her character in the moment. Heckerling believed that if Silverstone knew she was saying the word incorrectly, it would affect the performance's authenticity. Per Vogue:
"She had the script and she was doing her lines and as soon as I said 'cut,' the script woman and everyone in the crew started to walk up to her to tell her the right pronunciation and I had to run interference and go, 'Step away from the actress. Stand clear of Alicia Silverstone.' Because I didn't want her to know that she had it wrong, I wanted that assurance without her thinking this is funny or a joke — which changes how you say things. There's something you do when you're completely confident that just can't be replicated when you know you're doing something wrong."
Silverstone later reflected on the incident in a 2020 Vogue interview, while also recalling another word she mispronounced, "heifer," telling the publication, "Thankfully I was only 17 so hopefully we can forgive and forget. I sadly don't think I'd ever even heard of the Haitians at that time either, which is probably embarrassing. There was another word I got wrong too but she corrected me on that one because it was so ridiculous. ... I remember doing a scene outside with [actor and co-star] Stacey Dash where we were walking to class or something. What was it … Ooh I think it was heifers!"
Paramount's "Clueless" was a beloved 1990s coming-of-age comedy known for its humor, fashion and memorable dialogue. Loosely based on Jane Austen's "Emma," the film starred Silverstone as Cher Horowitz, a wealthy and fashionable high school student in Beverly Hills who embarks on a mission to play matchmaker for her friends while navigating her own romantic and social entanglements. "Clueless" also starred Paul Rudd and Brittany Murphy, who died in 2009.
Snopes has previously fact-checked unusual facts about classic movies, including the true claim that filmmaker John Hughes wrote the script for "The Breakfast Club" in two days, and that real members of the Mafia were involved in the making of the 1972 film "The Godfather."
Sources:
- YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgjwq1ZzdPQ. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.
Alicia Silverstone (Cher) Actually Did Not Know How to Correctly Pronounce "Haitians" in the Classroom Scene. Director Amy Heckerling Told the Crew Not... | By Kramer IMAX Theatre | Facebook. www.facebook.com, https://www.facebook.com/KramerIMAXTheatre/videos/alicia-silverstone-cher-actually-did-not-know-how-to-correctly-pronounce-haitian/513460143842303/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024.
"Amy Heckerling | Writer, Director, Producer." IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002132/. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.
Bell, Keaton. "Alicia Silverstone on the Legacy of Clueless, 25 Years Later." Vogue, 19 July 2020, https://www.vogue.com/article/alicia-silverstone-clueless-25th-anniversary-interview.
@Brieyonce. "Never Get over Learning That Alicia Actually Did Not Know How to Pronounce Haitians and They Just Kept It." X, 14 Sept. 2024, https://x.com/Brieyonce/status/1834976529882771494.
Clueless. Directed by Amy Heckerling, Paramount Pictures, Robert Lawrence Productions, Scott Rudin Productions, 1995.
Harbet, Xandra. "Alicia Silverstone Names Some Of Her Biggest Flubs In Clueless - Exclusive." Looper, 8 Feb. 2022, https://www.looper.com/761194/alicia-silverstone-names-some-of-her-biggest-flubs-in-clueless-exclusive/.
---. "Alicia Silverstone On Her New Shark Movie The Requin, Environmentalism, And Clueless Memories - Exclusive Interview." Looper, 28 Jan. 2022, https://www.looper.com/750104/alicia-silverstone-on-her-new-shark-movie-the-requin-environmentalism-and-clueless-memories-exclusive-interview/.
Heyman, Jessie. "Clueless Director Amy Heckerling Reveals 15 Things You Never Knew About the Film." Vogue, 19 June 2015, https://www.vogue.com/article/clueless-15-things-you-never-knew.
published, Sarah El-Mahmoud. "Alicia Silverstone Reveals How A Mistake Led To A Memorable Clueless Line." CINEMABLEND, 20 Feb. 2022, https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/alicia-silverstone-reveals-how-a-mistake-led-to-a-memorable-clueless-line.
Solis, Alyssa. "One Of Clueless' Funniest Lines Was A Complete Accident." ScreenRant, 11 Sept. 2021, https://screenrant.com/clueless-1995-haitians-line-alicia-silverstone-mispronounce-accident/.
@TheStefanSmith. "Republican Party so Regressive That a Teen Movie from the 90s Has More Compassion." X, 13 Sept. 2024, https://x.com/TheStefanSmith/status/1834698863707611170.
TikTok - Make Your Day. https://www.tiktok.com/@netflixph/video/7154318045488483585?lang=en. Accessed 17 Sept. 2024.
