Do we like Eugenio Derbez?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A decent, outspoken ally of Latino and migrant communities, held back by one old character that critics called mocking of gay men and a few sloppy comments.
Derbez started acting at twelve and came up through Mexican TV sketch comedy and sitcoms, becoming a household name across Latin America. He then wrote, directed and starred in Instructions Not Included, and pushed into English-language Hollywood with films like Overboard. The Hispanic Heritage Foundation named him for its 2019 film award, and its boss said he has helped open doors for other Latinos in the industry.
The biggest blot on the harm test is Julio Esteban, a TV character modelled on astrologer Walter Mercado. In 2020, after Netflix's Mercado documentary, Derbez called the character a tribute, and critics hit back. One said it was a deliberate, homophobic mockery, and another said it fed prejudice against LGBT+ people on open TV. That's their reading, and he framed it as affection, but it's a real mark for a reader who's gay.
The other stoush was December 2024, when he trashed Selena Gomez's Spanish in Emilia Pérez. It was rude rather than harmful. He apologised publicly for his “careless comments”, and said the film deserved to be celebrated.
On the wider harm check, there's no sign in what I found of him campaigning against LGBTQ+ people, trans people or women, and nothing on climate or vaccines. His politics run the other way on migrants: in June 2025 he left a film set to join the Los Angeles protests against ICE raids. In his video he said “Los inmigrantes hacen que Estados Unidos vuelva a ser grande” (immigrants make the US great). A Halloween 2025 Trump costume cost him some fans, and defenders called it a joke.
On the good-person side, the main allegation is from 2025. A fellow comedian said in an interview that the late Sammy Pérez had been kept locked in a dressing room during recordings. Derbez denied it, said production put Pérez up in a hotel, and said he helped cover his medical care. The claimant said he never worked with Derbez, and it remains an unresolved he-said claim rather than a finding.
The good stuff is mostly representation. He has spent years pushing back on Hollywood's habit of casting Latinos as stereotypes, running his own production company, and showing up in person for migrant communities when it's uncomfortable. The record I could verify is thin on charity, so I'm not going to pad it.