NEWSHilaria Baldwin Defends Herself Amid Spanish Heritage Drama & Her Family Reacts
Clearing the air! Hilaria Baldwin has made some surprising revelations about her heritage and identity after social media accused her of using a fake accent, lying about being Spanish and using a different name.
"I’ve seen chatter online questioning my identity and culture. This is something I take very seriously, and for those who are asking — I’ll reiterate my story, as I’ve done many times before," Baldwin wrote on Instagram on Sunday, December 27. "I was born in Boston and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain. My parents and sibling live in Spain and I chose to live here, in the USA."
Baldwin clarified that she and her husband, Alec Baldwin, are raising their children bilingual and celebrate both cultures at home. "I understand that my story is a little different, but it is mine, and I’m very proud of it," she added.
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In a video accompanying the post, Baldwin said that she has always tried to be clear but what she says isn’t always reported accurately. "There was a lot of back and forth my entire life," she explained as she went between the U.S. and Spain.
However, the controversy arose as Baldwin previously said that she moved to the U.S. when she was 19 to attend college. The Daily Mail obtained a yearbook photo from Cambridge School of Weston in Massachusetts, which showed Baldwin name as Hillary Hayward-Thomas.
"I went to high school with her. Genuinely lovely person, I recall, but fully a white girl from Cambridge," a former classmate recalled.
"I went to high school with her. She was perfectly nice and serious about ballroom dancing. Her name was indeed Hillary Hayward-Thomas and she did not have her current accent," another wrote.
"I believe she and her brother Jeremy (also nice) grew up in Boston and were white people," a third old friend spilled.
"Yeah I'm a different kind of Bostonian but that's who I am, and you kind of can't change your background — nor would I want to — I'm really, really proud of who I am," Baldwin said.
As for the fluctuating accent, Baldwin said that it’s because she speaks a lot of Spanish and tends to mix it up with English.
While Baldwin said she was taking a social media break, she signed back on a few hours later to share a snap of herself eating pizza in the hospital after her son Eduardo "Edu" Pao Lucas was born, which prompted Baldwin’s stepdaughter, Ireland Baldwin, to take to the comments section to defend her stepmom.
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"I wish people had the chance to know you and know your story the way that I do rather than from a fabricated nine hour long Instagram Story," Ireland wrote.
"I had the best time of my life dancing with your chosen family that flew all the way here from Spain to party at your wedding," Ireland said, which correlates to Baldwin's claim that "44 people from Spain" attended her wedding in 2012.
"I know who you are and I know what you are not and I’m lucky to know you for who you truly are," Ireland concluded.
Meanwhile, Alec slammed outlets such as TMZ and the New York Post for writing "false" and "untrue" things about people he loves. "And as much as that hurts, the only thing I can do is talk to that half of the public or that portion of the public who understands what I mean when I say: 'Consider the source.'"
