Sofía Vergara eviscerated a journalist for making fun of her Colombian accent.
The “Modern Family” actress appeared on Tuesday’s episode of Spain talk show “El Hormiguero” when the host, Pablo Motos, mocked the way Vergara pronounced the name of her former sitcom.
“How do you say ‘Modern Family?’” Motos, 58, asked Vergara in Spanish, prompting her to pause with confusion.
Vergara, 51, then fired back, “I say it wrong? Oh, because you speak better English than me? Ah.”
Motos proceeded to laugh uncomfortably as the “America’s Got Talent” host looked away from him with a visibly angry expression on her face.
She then squinted her eyes as she savagely asked the talking head, “How many Emmy nominations do you have in the United States? How many times did they nominate you at the Golden Globes?”
Vergara has received four Emmy nominations and four Golden Globe nominations for her role as Gloria in the ABC mockumentary.
Meanwhile, “El Hormiguero” snagged one Emmy nomination in the non-scripted entertainment category in 2011, but did not win.
The media personality appeared gobsmacked and embarrassed by Vergara’s line of questioning but seemed to brush it off with a smile.
While Vergara didn’t appreciate Motos’ accent jab, she was much kinder when Ellen DeGeneres was accused of making fun of her rusty articulation during a 2015 episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
In 2020, a clip of their interview resurfaced of DeGeneres asking why Vergara was given such a difficult script to read with her heavy accent in their joint ad campaign for CoverGirl. Viewers slammed DeGeneres for being insensitive and accused the comedian of mocking Vergara’s accent.
Vergara defended DeGeneres, tweeting at the time, “Two comedians having fun with each other to entertain. I was never a victim guys, I was always in on the joke.”
Throughout “Modern Family,” which ran for 11 seasons from 2009 to 2020, Vergara’s Colombian character would mispronounce English words and phrases, adding humorous moments to the plot.
But the “Chef” star faced backlash for her television role, with many criticizing her for portraying a stereotype of Latina women.
“What’s wrong with being a stereotype?” she told Hola! magazine in 2017 while defending herself. “Gloria’s character is inspired by my mom and my aunt. They are both Latin women who grew up in Colombia, like me. They love color, prints and shoes … It upsets me when Latinos complain about Gloria.”
She continued, “I am grateful for the opportunity because the gringos have let me in with this strong accent I have. Eight years ago nobody had an accent like this on television.”
In her latest project with Netflix, Vergara portrays another Colombian character: real-life drug lord Griselda Blanco.
“Griselda” premieres on the streaming service on Jan. 25.
