Tragic: The Peloton wife blames herself for her harrowing ordeal

Sadly not uncommon among victims of abuse.

Peloton lady, you need to hear this: It’s not your fault. Say that to yourself as often as you need to until it sinks in.

Advertisement

You know, I hate to say it but … it is kind of her fault:

The actress who played the wife in a widely panned Peloton holiday commercial said in an exclusive interview Thursday that some of the criticism may have stemmed from her performance and the facial expressions she made.

“Honestly, I think it was just my face,” Monica Ruiz told Hoda Kotb on TODAY Thursday in her first television interview since the ad went viral.

“My eyebrows looked worried I guess. People were like, ‘You look scared.’ I’m telling you, it was my face, that was the problem, and it just exploded it from there. She looks worried,” Ruiz said of her character in the 30-second spot.

I made the same diagnosis in a post last week. The concept of the ad is weird, but weird in a familiar way for a commercial. The product has changed her life and she’s eager — way too eager — to share that information with those closest to her. Can’t fault a company for being overzealous in promoting its product, though.

This is where things went wrong. Gaze into the eyes of fear:

If I were a cop and someone showed me that photo, I’d collar her husband for DV without a second thought. Those eyebrows are probable cause in any county in America, buddy.

She’s going to end up in a Super Bowl ad now, no? The logical thing would be for Peloton to capitalize on the publicity by doing its own follow-up ad instead of letting Ryan Reynolds’s company have all the fun, but they’ve seemed sour about the merriment the Internet has made from the original spot. They haven’t commented on it except to say how “disappointed” they are by some of the reaction, and when the CEO was asked recently for his reaction to the fuss, all he could offer was a terse “That was last week.”

Advertisement

Even the Peloton husband was grumpy, choosing to blame me, his wife’s greatest Internet champion, instead of taking responsibility for his own crimes.

Lotta bad vibes. I wonder why they’re all in such a bad mood.

Monica Ruiz, the actress who plays Peloton wife, is the lone exception, as you’re about to see. She’s very much in on the joke and full of good cheer, as befits someone who’s now famous and doing Today show interviews. She’s a natural choice for the next 20 Lifetime TV movies about women overcoming dangerous men. Exit question: What sort of Super Bowl ad will she end up doing? Don’t say “gun,” it’s too easy.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on HotAir Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement