--- title: Louise Linton Speaks Out After Viral Instagram Post description: Louise Linton, the actress wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, has spoken out for the first time since her Instagram post controversy canonical: https://time.com/4926838/indefensible-louise-linton-speaks-out-after-instagram-post-controversy/ author: Jennifer Calfas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-05T12:17:48.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:16:35.836Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'Indefensible': Louise Linton Speaks Out After Instagram Post Controversy og:description: "It's clear that I was the one who was truly out of touch" og:url: https://time.com/4926838/indefensible-louise-linton-speaks-out-after-instagram-post-controversy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ea41c5f3a8028af/6988da96ab6d7741fe6af7e3/louise-linton-instagram-criticism.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TREASURY-MNUCHIN og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Indefensible': Louise Linton Speaks Out After Instagram Post Controversy twitter:description: "It's clear that I was the one who was truly out of touch" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ea41c5f3a8028af/6988da96ab6d7741fe6af7e3/louise-linton-instagram-criticism.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'Indefensible': Louise Linton Speaks Out After Instagram Post Controversy by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Sep 5, 2017 12:17 PM UTC  Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, watches as speaks after taking the oath of office in the Oval Office of the White House on February 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. Louise Linton, the wife of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, watches as speaks after taking the oath of office in the Oval Office of the White House on February 13, 2017 in Washington, DC.MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas Sep 5, 2017 12:17 PM UTC [Louise Linton](http://time.com/4911605/louse-linton-instagram-post-apology/), the wife of Treasury Secretary [Steven Mnuchin](http://time.com/4832219/donald-melania-trump-mnuchin-wedding/), has spoken out for the first time since she came under fire for [an Instagram post flaunting her wealth](http://time.com/4910590/louise-linton-instagram-criticism/) in August. “It was scary and surreal but it forced me to take a deep look at what I had done,” she [told _Washington Life_](http://washingtonlife.com/2017/09/05/exclusive-interview-louise-linton-gets-real/), a magazine that details the life of the wealthy and powerful in Washington, D.C., in an interview. “I don’t feel like a victim. I feel like the world gave me a good, hard wake-up call and I’m OK with that.” In a post of an image of her and her husband descending from a military jet after a trip to Kentucky, Linton wore an outfit [worth up to $4,600](http://time.com/money/4910757/heres-how-much-louise-lintons-outfit-in-that-viral-instagram-post-costs/) and used hashtags to describe the brands. A woman, identified by the New York _Times_ as 45-year-old Jenni Miller, a mother of three, commented on the post, calling Linton “#deplorable.” The actress then wrote a lengthy response, calling Miller “adorably out of touch” and appearing to shame her for her “cute” life. Linton i[ssued an apology](http://time.com/4911605/louse-linton-instagram-post-apology/) through her publicist after the incident made headlines and has since made her Instagram account private. “I want to say I concede completely to the comments of my critics,” she told _Washington Life.”_My post itself and the following response were indefensible. Period.” The interview appeared in the annual “Balls and Galas” issue of the publication, and featured a spread of Linton posing in ball gowns. “I see the irony of making an apology in a ball gown,” Linton said, clarifying that she really is “a no makeup girl” who is more comfortable in leggings and a sweatshirt. But Linton, who grew up in her family’s castle in Scotland, made clear she has learned from the incident. “I don’t have any excuses, nor do I feel any self-pity for the backlash I experience,” Linton said. “I sincerely take ownership of my mistake. It’s clear that I was the one who was truly out of touch and my response was reactionary and condescending.” Louise Linton Speaks Out After Viral Instagram Post ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4926838/indefensible-louise-linton-speaks-out-after-instagram-post-controversy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4926838/indefensible-louise-linton-speaks-out-after-instagram-post-controversy/"},"headline":"'Indefensible': Louise Linton Speaks Out After Instagram Post Controversy","datePublished":"2017-09-05T12:17:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:16:35.836Z","description":"\"It's clear that I was the one who was truly out of touch\"","url":"https://time.com/4926838/indefensible-louise-linton-speaks-out-after-instagram-post-controversy/","keywords":["Social Media","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ea41c5f3a8028af/6988da96ab6d7741fe6af7e3/louise-linton-instagram-criticism.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jennifer Calfas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ea41c5f3a8028af/6988da96ab6d7741fe6af7e3/louise-linton-instagram-criticism.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TREASURY-MNUCHIN","caption":"US-POLITICS-TREASURY-MNUCHIN","creditText":"MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/social-media/","name":"Social Media"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4926838/indefensible-louise-linton-speaks-out-after-instagram-post-controversy/","name":"'Indefensible': Louise Linton Speaks Out After Instagram Post Controversy"}}]}] ```