Luisana Lopilato defends husband Michael Buble after new video of him elbowing her sparks outrage

Luisana Lopilato has defended her singer husband Michael Buble, after footage of him roughly elbowing her in a recent Instagram Live went viral.

In an impassioned statement to her Instagram followers on Sunday, the Chiquititas actress, 32, thanked fans for their concern yet was quick to defend her nine-year-marriage – saying she would choose her husband a ‘thousand times over’. 

Her comments come after fans shared footage of the awkward interaction between the couple during his Instagram Live session, in which the crooner, 44, appeared to gruffly grab Luisana’s elbow before draping his arms around her shoulders.

In a new video, Luisana said: ‘I’ve seen your messages over the weekend and I am very thankful. Thank you for worrying’.

Speaking in Spanish in the clip, which has been translated to English by Hola!, she went on: ‘It’s very important that we pay attention to these problems that have been mentioned and that I am lucky not to suffer.’

Using the misunderstanding to shed light on domestic issues, she added: ‘But, it is important to pay attention to be able to help women that are going through it.’  

The mother-of-three, who shares Noah, five, Elias, three, and Vida, seven months, with her husband, became frustrated by comments urging her to leave Michael and wrote lengthy statement in Spanish, which was translated by Hello!   

‘It’s not fair! This person is doing harm and taking advantage of this pandemic where people are suffering, dying to have fame and more followers,’ she wrote on Instagram of a Twitter user, who shared the video of Buble yanking Lopilato and throwing his arms around her. 

‘He is telling lies that I will not allow because he disrespects my family, so I ask you, who have trusted me so much over the years, that you do not allow it either!’ she explained to her 4.7 million followers. 

She concluded: ‘The world needs more than ever ‘love, hope, values, unity and solidarity’ NOT these types of people.’ 

Canadian crooner Michael only recently returned to social media, having quit using it when his son Noah was diagnosed with cancer aged three in 2016.

Noah was given the all-clear from the disease in 2017 after undergoing chemo, but Michael decided to steer clear of platforms such as Instagram until now.

The Haven’t Met You Yet hitmaker has said he began using it again so he could better support fans during the coronavirus pandemic, explaining: ‘it can be a great voice for good’. 

Michael said he hoped he and his wife could bring people together and provide some reassurance.

He told ET Canada the current situation reminded them of their son’s diagnosis: ‘It truly had an impact when we started to think about families who were going through tough stuff like we were. There was a point with Noah when his counts were low and we really had to be careful about viruses and things because his immune system was really weak.

‘My wife and I started to think about, not just kids, but adults and mothers, brothers… A lot of people are going through hard enough things, and then putting [the coronavirus] on top. I think that really affected us. We understood how desperate, how panicked, how scary this is…

‘I think we both felt that it was almost part and parcel that if we were gonna ask people to stay home and not leave and to stay in their apartment or to stay in their house or their condo or whatever it was, we felt like we better be part of giving people something to do while they’re there. We can actually talk to people about mental health.’

He and Luisiana first met back in 2009, when Lopilato played Buble’s love interest for his single Haven’t Met You Yet.

The pair got engaged later that year, and went on to marry in April 2011.