We all owe Mexican actress Itatí Cantoral so much.
Credit: @itatic_oficial / Instagram
Without her, Soraya Montenegro wouldn’t exist. And without Soraya Montenegro, this iconic scene from María la del Barrio wouldn’t exist.
Credit: Televisa
And neither would some of your favorite memes:
Credit: Televisa
Credit: Televisa
Unfortunately for Ms. Cantoral, she’s become a lightning rod for gossip and criticism. Earlier this month, Mexicans buzzed about Cantoral possibly being drunk on the TV talk show Hoy.
Credit: Hoy / YouTube
It’s not the first time Cantoral has allegedly been drunk on TV.
Cantoral made a Paula Abdul-esque appearance on the show, where, at times, it wasn’t totally clear if she had one too many or just hated the guts of everyone on the show.
Credit: Hoy / YouTube
It was probably both. Cantoral went off the cuff for most of the interview, which included hard-hitting questions such as, “How much like Soraya Montenegro are you in bed?”
You can watch the cringe-inducing interview here:
Credit: Hoy / YouTube
Days later, Cantoral began trending for a different reason. According to TV Notas, Cantoral took a group of orphans – some of them blind – to experience the play Annie.
Credit: El_Universal_Mx / Twitter
The play is called Anita la Huerfanita in Mexico.
And apparently, lots of people thought it was dumb to take orphans to see a play about an orphan. So the memes began:
Credit: DiarioRespuesta / Twitter
Followed by joke after joke:
Itatí Cantoral regala cuentas premium de Spotify a niños sordos.
— BEATRIX KIDDO (@Lula_MKS) January 26, 2016
Credit: @Lula_MKS / Twitter
Itatí Cantoral just gave cel phones to boys without arms………. But SHE said they were hands free phones. NINEL CONDE recommended AT&T
— roy cordova (@royc1111) January 26, 2016
Credit: @royc1111 / Twitter
Cantoral said the trip to the theater was set up by her newly-created foundation that seeks to help orphaned children. TV news anchor Joaquín López-Dóriga said people should help the orphans instead of making jokes about the situation.
TVNotas se burló de estas niñas. Mejor hay que ayudarlas. Les digo cómo https://t.co/2Y5svaaEwy
— Joaquín López-Dóriga (@lopezdoriga) January 27, 2016
Credit: @lopezdoriga / Twitter
Basically, Cantoral and López-Dóriga had this message for everyone:
Credit: Televisa
READ: Mexico Has No Problem Admitting They Stole These Telenovelas
