Alix Earle sparks backlash after admitting in a rapid-fire interview that she’s never read a book, with critics calling the confession “embarrassing.”
Social media star Alix Earle has faced a wave of criticism after making a surprising confession about her reading habits during a recent interview with Interview Magazine.
The 25-year-old influencer was taking part in a rapid-fire question-and-answer session while getting ready for a photo shoot in Milan when she was asked about the last book she had read.
Earle’s response quickly became the most talked-about moment from the interview.
Sitting in a white robe as she prepared for the shoot, Earle was asked a series of questions covering everything from dating and relationships to everyday habits.
However, when the conversation turned to books, she appeared to catch viewers off guard.
“What’s the last book you read?” she was asked.
Earle responded with an exaggerated laugh before saying: “I’ve never read a book.”
She then appeared to soften the admission by adding: “Maybe Dr. Seuss?”
The answer quickly circulated online, with some viewers criticizing the influencer and arguing that publicly admitting she had never read a book was not something to celebrate.
One Reddit user shared screenshots from the interview and described the moment as “embarrassing but not surprised.”
Another commenter was considerably harsher, writing: “Being dumb isn’t a flex. Being ignorant isn’t cute.”
A third person suggested that Earle’s team should have prepared her for the question.
“Her publicist or team should have told her to lie and fed her a book title. This is so gross,” the commenter wrote.
Other viewers focused on Earle’s influence over younger audiences.
“Wow it’s embarrassing how she influences young women,” one person wrote, while another described the admission as “f**king humiliating.”
The backlash illustrates the scrutiny Earle continues to face as her profile grows beyond social media.
With millions of followers and an expanding business and media presence, seemingly casual comments can quickly become the subject of intense online discussion.
The Interview Magazine conversation included several other revealing answers. Earle said she would never get back together with an ex and offered a blunt response when asked why things could not be “magic all the time.”
“Because people suck,” she replied.
However, neither of those answers generated the same level of reaction as her comment about books.
The controversy comes as Earle continues to build her profile through beauty, entertainment and reality television projects.
She recently appeared to poke fun at some of the biggest headlines surrounding her personal life in a cheeky advertisement for her skincare brand, Reale Actives.
The promotional video was created to market her new Go Calm serum, a product containing 10 percent azelaic acid that is designed to help calm redness.
The commercial appeared to contain several references that viewers interpreted as nods to people and controversies associated with Earle’s past.
In one scene, Earle took a football from a man wearing a football jersey.
“Thanks babe,” she said before walking around an outdoor barbecue setup.
“Do things blow up from time to time? Sure,” she continued.
She then deflated the football before throwing it into the barbecue, where it appeared to cause the grill to burst into flames.
Some viewers interpreted the deflated football as a possible reference to the long-running “Deflategate” controversy involving former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Brady was at the center of the 2015 controversy after the Patriots were accused of using under-inflated footballs during the AFC Championship Game. The NFL later suspended Brady for four games, while the Patriots were fined $1 million.
The commercial also featured a goat crossing the screen, another detail that some viewers interpreted as a possible reference to Brady, who is frequently described as the “GOAT” in football, meaning “greatest of all time.”
Earle and Brady previously sparked dating speculation after they were seen together in St.
Barts on New Year’s Eve. The pair were also reportedly spotted together at a Super Bowl party.
The football imagery could also have been interpreted as a reference to Earle’s former boyfriend Braxton Berrios, a New York Giants player. The jersey worn by the man in the advertisement featured the number 95, while Berrios was born in 1995.
Earle ultimately brought the advertisement back to the skincare product.
“This serum keeps it from showing on my face,” she said. “And keeps me prepared for whatever comes next.”
The final scene featured Earle answering a pay phone. She picked up the receiver and said, “Call her calm.”
The line appeared to be a possible play on the name of Alex Cooper’s hugely successful podcast, Call Her Daddy.
Earle and Cooper have been involved in a public dispute over the past year. Their relationship became a storyline in Earle’s Netflix reality series, Earle Meets World.
Earle was initially among the talent signed by Cooper as Cooper expanded her media business beyond Call Her Daddy.
During the reality show, however, Earle claimed that she learned through media reports that she had been dropped from the network.
The latest controversy over Earle’s book confession adds another chapter to the intense online attention surrounding the influencer.
While her supporters have frequently defended her candid and unfiltered personality, the reaction to her latest interview demonstrates how quickly an off-the-cuff answer can become a viral talking point.
For now, Earle has not publicly addressed the backlash over her comments about never having read a book. The Daily Mail reported that it had contacted her representative for comment.