Hilaria Baldwin pretended to be Spanish wtf?!

[Ballstothis148]

This is the least important and most weird story of 2020.... this woman comes up on my Instagram a lot as a suggested page. Tbh I don’t find her interesting but know she’s Spanish and is into health, having babies with Alec Baldwin and that’s pretty much it. She speaks with a Spanish accent, on her IG page she calls her children “Baldwinitos” I do remember an article saying when she speaks Spanish to her kids people confuse her for a nanny so I thought an interesting take on a European mum in the States.

Except it’s all a lie. She’s not remotely Spanish. Her wealthy Boston parents (no Spanish ancestry) now have a holiday home there.

What is wrong with people?! I include me for being too interested :) why pretend to be Spanish? In one interview she even pretended she didn’t know the word for cucumber as her English isn’t that good

Oh and she’s not even called Hilaria, she’s called Hilary. This year I swear... what an odd story!! I did know a girl who went very French after a romance there one year... maybe it’s a thing!

@GreenlandTheMovie

I think this has been blown up out of all proportion and this is bullying now.

Anyone who has spent part of their childhood in another country finds that a significant influence on their life. She grew up partly in Spain, most of her family now lives there and she texts her brother in Spanish.

I can't help thinking the attacks on her are particularly unkind because she is white, and some Americans confuse Spanish with Latino/Mexican/South American and think she is claiming to be from a racial minority when she is simply a Spanish afficiandao. Spending part of your childhood growing up in Spain is different from most Anericans' experience, as is having most of your family now living there.

The infamous cucumber clip was clearly tongue in cheek, but if you have been speaking another language, then sometimes you do forget the odd funny word and your brain substitutes what it thinks is the right one.

As for adding an "a" onto the end of her name - so what? It's one letter! Some people change their whole names. I have a friend called Paul, routinely referred to as "Paulo" because the joke is he could pass for Italian. Its not exactly unusual.

I agree. I'm Spanish 100%. Born in Madrid from Madrilenan parents with roots from both parents in Castile. I still don't get why there is such an issue with Hilaria identifying herself as Spanish when she grew up in Spain.

Its perfectly alright. Kids growing up in countries different from their birth are very much still part of that culture. It's their "first language"
even if the language and culture at home is different as well.

Im a Spanish ex--pat in Australia and my youngest son was born here. He understand his Spanish cultural background but he feels Australian, it's who he is and feels after going to school and being immersed in our life here.

Unless you've lived in a different country as a child you won't probably understand why Hilaria feels Spanish. More the pity.

The family are obviously very keen on Spain, and I can understand why she'd want her children to speak it growing up if she's fluent and learnt it as a child.

(What do you call that, is there a Spancish equivalent of Francophile? Espancantada? )

I think the name thing is relatively understandable — I had a Spanish teacher who always used to call me (name changed) Maria instead of Mary when we were speaking.

But why, at no point did her parents/siblings not say “Hillary, why are you speaking with that ridiculous accent?”

This! I'm from L.A. and moved to London from New York in the early 90s (left again to live in Paris and came back in the late 90s- just to get my own Wikipedia bio airtight here! ). Anyway... I remember when I moved back to London in the late 90s my brothers kept referring to me as 'Madonna'. I knew exactly what they were saying and I dropped the affectation immediately!

It’s pretty strange but if fully grown adult men can choose to identify as women what’s the difference.

But yes, also not only the story but some of the backlash against it is sureal - the idea that by identifying as Spanish she is somehow linking herself to an oppressed minority. I shall tell my Spanish friends they are apparently POC now because 'mericans say so.

"Unless you've lived in a different country as a child you won't probably understand why Hilaria feels Spanish. More the pity."

She didn't grow up in Spain. She grew up in Boston where she went to school. She just went to Spain for her holidays like millions of other people.

Maybe she just felt “in Spanish mode” for the last few years & we should all respect her Spanish pronouns.

Unless you've lived in a different country as a child you won't probably understand why Hilaria feels Spanish. More the pity.

But she’s never lived in Spain! Not as a child, not as an adult. Her parents entire careers are easily found online and there are no gaps - her dad was a successful American Lawyer, her mother was an American Doctor and professor. One of her parents has listed every place they’ve ever lived on social media and Spain isn’t there until 2011!

Well she's clearly seems to be a fluent Spanish speaker who has strong links with and a love for Spain. Can't see the issue here. Apart from the fact she's another white woman getting tried and convicted on social media. Who really cares that much. Why don't people just get on and live their lives instead of spending their time picking apart and destroying other people's.

She’s just an attention seeking weirdo, why does anyone give a crap?

@Alondra Except she didn’t grow up in Spain, at all. Her family is multi generation American, and she only holidayed in Spain when she was a child. Spending your summer holidays in a country is very different to growing up and going to school there.

When I moved here I tried to do everything I could to make my accent more British and less "foreign" as there was a woman I knew who thought it was hilarious to mock my accent every single time we met (in a group of friends). It wasn't.

A friend of mine was told to F back off to her country because she was speaking her native language to her DC, last year.

So, it's all nice and good if she identifies as Spanish, I'm sure she uses her normal Bostonian accent in private, and I doubt it has affected her life to a huge extent.

Famous people lie about their lives all the times, it's not surprising.

@badpuma

"Unless you've lived in a different country as a child you won't probably understand why Hilaria feels Spanish. More the pity."

She didn't grow up in Spain. She grew up in Boston where she went to school. She just went to Spain for her holidays like millions of other people.

My apologies. I read a interview with her in a Spanish newspaper where she said she grew up in Spain. By the way, her Castilian is faultless.

@Kaliorphic What strong links? Going there on summer holidays? I guess that also applies to Brits who go to Spain every summer too - they must be Spanish as well!

was it just an attention thing-for a while i spoke with an american twang when i came back from a months holiday my friends took the piss and i stopped but i was a child

i didnt invent a whole background and ancestry and put it all over sm

@Alondra Just seen your second post. All those interviews where she claimed she grew up in Spain are actually lies. That’s the whole point.

Apparently her grandfather travelled to Argentina which inspired his children to become proficient in Spanish language and interested in Spanish culture. But that’s the closest to Spanish she gets!

If only Hilary had said she was a man...

A child was in my DSs year at school, the mother had an American accent and I knew the family had previously lived there. I had only spoken to the mother and knew they moved back here (English town) to be close to a family member. As mums accent was so strong I assumed they were living close to the dads family.

The Mum looked like the grandmother who lived here and it turned out she was the British one. The mum was English, had lived in America for a couple of years and married an American. Despite living here for a few years before they moved back to America she spoke in an American accent all the while she was here. I found it really bizarre as did many other parents at the school!

I don't know where the truth lies, but I do know the difference between Castilian and Hispanic, the language is the same the accent is completely different. No one will confuse an American, South African or Australian with English, Scottish or English. Same as with the Spanish language.

Hilaria speaks fluent Castilian (in Spain we have 4 co-official languages)

What strong links? Going there on summer holidays? I guess that also applies to Brits who go to Spain every summer too - they must be Spanish as well

Seriously who fucking cares? The woman clearly spent far more of her time in Spain than I ever did. Her parents live there. She loves the place. It's part of her life. Why on earth do people feel the need to find people to target and destroy on sm all the bloody time. Usually white woman. So so unpleasant.

So, it's all nice and good if she identifies as Spanish

How can you 'identify' as a nationality though?

If she wanted to take up residency in Spain, the Spanish govt would require her to go through all the procedures and paperwork required of foreigners. Because that is what she is, however she 'identifies'.

Despite living here for a few years before they moved back to America she spoke in an American accent all the while she was here. I found it really bizarre as did many other parents at the school!

Now she's backing living in the US, she probably sounds like the queen.

[quote NotPrude]@Alondra Just seen your second post. All those interviews where she claimed she grew up in Spain are actually lies. That’s the whole point.

Apparently her grandfather travelled to Argentina which inspired his children to become proficient in Spanish language and interested in Spanish culture. But that’s the closest to Spanish she gets![/quote]
Thank you NotPrude. I've been posting from the little I know about her but if her growing up in Spain is all lies....well....frankly I no longer know what to say.

Thanks again for the info.

The whole thing is really weird. I've just nosed at he videos on insta and she doesn't speak with a Spanish accent at all. But I've also seen the quotes from interviews where she says she is Spanish.

Well, I am in two minds about this. I am of Spanish (from Spain, not Hispanic) British ancestry. I remember reading a few years ago an interview with this Hilaria and I am sure she said she was Spanish (to a Spanish publication) and nobody questioned it. I assumed she had left very young and made a life over there. She has been cagey to say the least. I have been to Greece, staying with my Greek cousins in the summer in the 90s, learned Greek, had a Greek boyfriend , read Greek books but never in a million years would I say I am Greek. I find that really weird. If she said she is a lover of all things Spanish and wants to introduce them into her daily life, fine, fair enough. But to me, what she has done smacks of duplicity.