Do we like them?

Do we like Ricardo Darín?

Our score: 7 out of 10. Nothing harmful in his own words or acts, plus public support for women on gender violence, held back by contested workplace allegations and little on LGBTQ+ issues.

Darín was born in Buenos Aires in 1957 and has been working for over half a century. He has racked up more than 40 awards and about a hundred performances, and in 2017 he became the first South American to get the Donostia Prize at San Sebastián. He's about as close to a national treasure as Argentine screen acting gets.

His brush with the law is old and murky. A Nissan Pathfinder he bought under a disability tax exemption was later sold and used outside that regime, and it was seized and auctioned. La Nación reported that the customs authority dismissed its own case against him on 10 March 2009. He says he was the one who got scammed, and he's still chasing the money.

The messier stuff is workplace gossip. In 2018 actress Valeria Bertuccelli accused him of mistreatment during their stage show; he said it was a misunderstanding and added “Si tiene un malestar, le pido disculpas.” Érica Rivas, who replaced her, said she had experienced the same. Separately, a woman alleged in 2011, and again in 2019, that he assaulted her in a bar. He denied it, and Buenos Aires Times reported no legal outcome.

On the harm test he's clean as far as I could find. After a high-profile femicide in June, he asked on Spanish TV “¿Qué pasa con los hombres, que no reaccionamos?” and asked how anyone could deny gender violence. I found no slide into conspiracy or grievance. I also found nothing from him directly on trans rights, so that gap is real.

Politically he's a critic of President Milei's government, not a cheerleader for anyone. In 2025 he got into a spat over empanada prices, and Milei called him “ignorante y operador berreta”. In June 2026 he said Milei won the election, but “Hay gente que la está pasando realmente muy mal.” That's criticism of policy, and the abuse aimed at him from the president says more about the president than about him.

The latest chatter is about football. On Spanish radio he said Argentina's players had “una actitud rara” walking out for the World Cup final, and he complained about campaigns against Messi. It's fan talk rather than harm, and you can read it as loyalty or as sour grapes.