Actor John Leguizamo has never been shy about speaking his mind — and on Friday, he aimed his fire squarely at former Lois & Clark star Dean Cain over the latter’s surprising new career move.
Cain, who has built a reputation as one of Hollywood’s more outspoken right-wing voices, recently revealed that he’s joining U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In a promotional video, he announced his intent to “help secure the safety of all Americans, not just talk about it,” while encouraging others to sign up for ICE recruitment.
The announcement appeared designed to inspire, but for many online — including Leguizamo — it sparked more mockery than admiration.
In a blistering Instagram video, Leguizamo questioned Cain’s judgment in taking the job.
“What kind of loser volunteers to be an ICE officer?” Leguizamo asked, shaking his head. “What a moron.”
Then, twisting the knife, the John Wick and Encanto actor delivered the line that quickly lit up social media:
“Dean Cain, your pronouns are ‘has, been.’”
Cain has not publicly responded to Leguizamo’s jab, but the exchange adds another layer to the growing tension between celebrity conservatives and their Hollywood critics — a feud that now extends into the world of federal immigration enforcement.
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Leguizamo wasn’t the only one unloading on Dean Cain.
Online critics — many from within the Asian American community — blasted the actor, born Dean George Tanaka, for embracing Trump-era mass deportation policies while seemingly ignoring the parallels to his own family’s history. Cain’s Japanese American relatives were among the thousands forcibly incarcerated in remote U.S. prison camps during World War II.
“My family was interred in the Minidoka internment camp in Idaho,” Cain told Variety late last month. “That was a horrible injustice, but I don’t think that I deserve any sort of reparations.”
That remark only added fuel to the backlash. Comedian Margaret Cho, who has been an outspoken voice on race and representation, tore into Cain on social media:
“You’re Japanese. You’re not even white. … I know you, and you are not white. You have never been white, and no matter how many of these white activities you participate in, it’s never gonna make that happen. You’re never gonna be white, no matter how racist you are. No matter how wrong you act.”
Then came her closer:
“Always wrong — never white. Dumbass.”
Margaret Cho has a message for Dean George Tanaka, aka Dean Cain: pic.twitter.com/LFPjqk5QUE
— Mr. Christopher (@iamalmostlegend) August 8, 2025