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!

The cucumber thing could well be true. I grew up knowing some words in French I didn’t know in English, and the latter is my first language.

Her explanation for all that totally makes sense. The weird bit is that she has said that her mum is Spanish when she isn't and that she grew up in Spain when she didn't. I don't get it. I don't get the enormous fuss over it all either when it's a harmless lie but why lie at all?

My understanding was that she grew up living in both countries.

I can tell you her Spanish accent is flawless and the vocabulary she uses is 100% real, you must have lived there to acquire certain words and expressions.

It’s clear Spain is close to her heart, as she’s bringing up her kids bilingual and her daughter’s homework is in Spanish (seen on Instagram)

My daughter was born in London but we moved to Spain when she was a baby and moved back here when she was 5. In her heart she’s Spanish, to the extent that she supports the Spanish football team in the World Cup...

At the end of the day though, who really cares? I don’t think she’s hurt anyone.

Same, Bvop.

The cucumber thing has had too much made of it, anyway. Some are acting like she was doing a Manuel from Faulty Towers, but she only hesitated for a split second.

@SmeleanorSmellstrop

I saw this in the news today and her video explaining herself seemed pretty simple. She said she was born in Boston and family are American but now all live in Spain, and that she libed between Spain and America throughout her childhood, travelling back and forth between the countries. Spoke fluent Spanish and English all jer life, went by Hillary in US and Hilaria in Spain, and family called her Hilaria, so eventually she decided to settle on one name as it was getting confusing using both. She said she grew up bilingual and thats why she sometimes gets confused with words or has an accent.

As a mum of bilingual kids i think this is kind of believable. My kids are called a insert country here version of their name by their friends and acquired family here, and called their Christened name by British family. One isnt old enough to talk yet but one gets a bit confused between languages sometimes and when they speak English can sound like they have a bit of an accent sometimes (although obvs he is very small so this might change). Of course she might be making excuses but if she genuinely lived her life between two countries, two cultures, and two languages, i guess it could be true.

It does make sense except it is another lie!

She was born in America, educated in America, both her parents had busy, important and demanding jobs in America. She went on holiday to Spain. Her parents retired to Spain when she was 27.

Her family is obviously very interested in the Spanish language and Spanish culture. But she didn’t spend her childhood moving back and forth - she went on holiday.

on the cucumber thing though, if she always uses the spanish name at home she might have forgotten it.

Where I live now courgettes are called zucchini. I have called it zucchini for years and so when in the UK I have a little brain hiccup to say courgette. Same with aubergine and eggplant.

The outrage is because she has made a (great) living out of being an ‘exotic’ Spanish woman who didn’t know pop culture because she didn’t have a tv for her Spanish-in-Spain upbringing until she came to NYC at 19. That she was born in Mallorca and lived her childhood there. That her mum is Spanish. That Spanish is her native language. That her skin and hair are dark because she is Spanish. That she deserves to bring a Spanish heritage to jobs and opportunities. All lies.

Why does that matter?

1. She has actively and pro-actively taken magazine and tv jobs, covers, photo shoots and awards from publications dedicated to celebrating Spanish, Latin and Hispanic women. That’s cheating and stealing.

1. Her ‘Spanish’ persona adds a diversity angle to any podcast, job or interview she does. Falsely. That again takes away actual diversity opportunities from actual people. That’s cheating and stealing.

1. She has adopted a stereotype Latin sexy fiery ditzy personality that many actual Spanish/Latin/Hispanic women find offensive as a one-dimensional stereotype they are constantly fighting.

1. She gets confused about being Spanish, Latin or Hispanic in her own descriptions which perpetuates the all-things-vaguely-Hispanic—or-Spanish must be POC and dark haired and dark skinned. She dyes her hair and tans. A lot.

1. This isn’t a problem until she has Insta videos comparing (fake) skin tone with her daughter and talking about her Spanish heritage. Which she doesn’t have. Her American family on both sides is as old as the Mayflower and not Spanish before that, either. Her parents vacationed in spain and retired there in 2011 when she was in her late 20s. That’s setting up a whole load of lies for her own kids to untangle. It is also straying in to racial appropriation as a pretend POC. European Spaniards are not the same as Latin Americans in so many ways.

1. If she perpetuates that stereotype then is she ticking the Hispanic/Latin/Spanish box on forms? Fraud if so. Will her kids? They would expect to because that’s what they’ve been told they are! Why does it matter? It opens different opportunities and denies places/jobs/uni to people entitled to that support.

1. The fake accent is obvious on so many insta posts and TV interviews. That’s been seen as endearing and cute. Yet so many immigrants with genuine accents have been denied opportunities or respect in the US because of their accent. It’s white girl playing at exotic immigrant without any of the hardships and prejudices that those women have to endure.

1. She said she had 44 members of her Spanish relatives fly in for her wedding. She doesn’t have Spanish relatives. If you listen to the interview with Daniel Baldwin or read Ireland’s reply to her post they talk about her ‘chosen’ family in Spain. That suggests holiday friends from over the years. Or nannies she may have had as a child, snd their families. No need for anyone to know but why lie again??

Why she would be celebrated if she didn’t lie?

1. She speaks excellent Spanish snd is bringing her kids up with Spanish nannies and at language immersion schools to help them be as close to bilingual as possible. An amazing gift and opportunity. Each child has their own nanny. That’s dedication.

1. Her love of Spain is infectious. Celebrate it for what it is! Who cares if you give your kids Spanish names, a nod to your passion isn’t a problem. How many people use Irish names or Italian names or any bloody name they like?!

1. She says she had overcome all sorts of eating disorders. Popping out babies is her new obsession. As is exercising publicly and making out she looks after these babies alone. Why lie? Be proud of what you do and who you are. Her body is phenomenal. Celebrate it if you want!

1. If she abd her family have maintained great friendships with ex nannies from Spain then that’s a great testament to their characters and family values. Why not celebrate that instead of pretending they are blood?

Ok. So having covid over Christmas has given me far too much time to think about all this 😂

She said boyfriend (of about a year) was Scottish and it rubbed off... I didn't want to push it coz at the end of the day it doesn't affect me

Is she at all hard of hearing? Something similar happened to me and I can only put it down to my being 50% deaf. My hearing has been corrected with surgery now and I'm stuck with a wonky accent

The jealous glee which some posters display in attacking this woman is much worse to read than someone slightly embellishing their background to make themselves seem more exotic. Some people seem particularly jealous that she can actually speak Spanish, and you can bet that if she was less attractive and less thin, certain posters would be far more sympathetic towards her.

And the bitter criticism of her for becoming "famous in her own right" and not just being content being quietly and invisibly married to a Hollywood actor. As if that in itself is a reason to condemn her. Just awful to read such blatantly jealous comments.

The woman speaks perfect Spanish fgs! And the US is full of being who claim to be Irish, or Italian, or Scottish or whatever due to one distant ancestor. This whole debacle has come about because in the US, some people equate claiming to be Spanish with claiming to be a POC and gain advantages through that, whereas that isn't what she has done.

So I don't think this is a con artist at work, merely someone trying to sound a little more interesting, in a way which is absolutely not unusual in celeb circles.

@yellowmaoampinball

Her explanation for all that totally makes sense. The weird bit is that she has said that her mum is Spanish when she isn't and that she grew up in Spain when she didn't. I don't get it. I don't get the enormous fuss over it all either when it's a harmless lie but why lie at all?

It isn’t a completely harmless lie though. Because of her lie she has been featured in a number of Spanish language magazines gaining money and exposure.

Yes - to her the money is probably chicken feed but there are a huge number of struggling Hispanic actresses out there for whom the money and exposure would have made a huge difference.

It’s a bit like insurance fraud - no obvious victim but not a harmless crime as we all pay for it.

@regularbutpanickingabit You have explained what I think about it really well. It is wrong to tell a lie and then make money out of it.

I have to admit I do also find the whole pragmatics amusing though. I’ve moved on from my “it’s like a Miranda episode” belief that I had upthread - I’m wondering if it is more Faulty Towers.

“Don’t mention that Hillary isn’t Spanish! I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it!”

That is why this is a good story - someone has been caught out doing something wrong - but it is also really rather funny! And with Covid and Brexit - where the humour is very dark indeed (Barny Castle eye tests!) - it really is a bit of light relief.

Race is a social construct to some extent, due to the importance that we place on skin colour, above say eye colour or skin colour. Famous models who are black or mixed with naturally light hair and eyes usually are still known as ‘black models’ first and foremost.
It’s bizarre that we put so much emphasis on defining race. I remember when Shakira was accused of cultural appropriation for Arabic (‘belly’) dancing and then it came out that she was 1/8th Arabic or something and suddenly it was ok. I mean she’s still a white, blonde haired woman doing the dance of a culture she hasn’t grown up in or had the experience of living your life as that nationality. I’m not saying she hasn’t had struggles but I think being in the U.S as an Arabic/American woman is tough, and I think it would kind of piss me off seeing her get global acclaim for dancing like that.

That said maybe the way to go is to stop caring about race (not in a colourblind way) but in a way where we a acknowledge that everyone is a mix of everything. My ds lives in a very diverse part of France and no one asks about race as it takes too long! ‘My dad is Albanian, my mum is Angolan, I grew up in Sweden for a bit before coming here’ etc. It’s getting that way in parts of the city where I live, I would never think of asking my dd’s schoolmates parents where they come from. I think the only place where it matters is where everyone is one thing and one person is another. In my primary school there were two black pupils in the whole school and everyone assumed they were friends or related!

It's not like insurance fraud at all. Insurance fraud involves very specific lies or misleading information resulting in a direct benefit from a clear intention to make that pecuniary gain. Not embellishing your exotic credentials. The woman could have got the magazine covers and TV work because she soeaks Spanish and has Spanish connections.

When I googled her, the first page contained a link to a Spanish awards show where she was being interviewed for Spanish TV, in Spain, speaking Spanish. There isn't a direct enough link between the "gains" here and the slightly misleading information for it to be fraudulent. It would never meet the criminal standard required for fraud.

In fact, it might be defamatory to say that, and the fact that she hasn't tried to get critics closed down by issuing defamation threats is another indication that this isn't part of some great dishonest master scheme.

Whereas Alexandre Grant and Meghan Markle have legal teams scouring the media to issue legal threats against any media reporting that might be harmful to them. Alexandre Grant in particular has made so many lies over the years about her artistic accomplishments and charitable involvement which are proven untrue that I cannot understand why she hasn't been charged with fraud.

Rosesongrangransgarden that comment about Shakira - do we really have to judge someone's right to talk about thair own racial heritage on the basis of whether their skin is dark enough or they dye their hair? My friend is 1/4 Chinese - her mother is half Chinese, and ike many people with that sort of mixed race background, looks completely European. She is regularly told by people that she cannot be mixed race be ause her skin is the wrong colour or that she doesn't understand what mixed race means. In China, she would fit into the vast range of features of Chinese people without question. Yet she has to buy Asian fit sunglasses and cannot drink alcohol without flushing. Its so offensive I don't even know where to start, because she doesn't fit neatly into some rigid, pre-conceived stereotype.

@SmeleanorSmellstrop yes you are wrong. Note in her explanation she says she was in both countries. But cleverly avoided saying this was just that she went on holidays to Spain! She did not move between countries. Her parents retired and bought a holiday home in Spain. They are the ‘spanish family’ she talks about - two Americans retiring to Mallorca.

If this makes her Spanish half the U.K. must be Spanish as they head off for a week in the sun once a year their whole childhoods and then parents retire to a holiday hole in the sun. The only difference with her is she can speak Spanish which again does not make her Spanish anymore than making me German as I speak it and lived there for a year and enjoy going on holidays there!

She has never been enrolled in a Spanish school and has completed her entire schooling in the US.

I am just amazed she has not been rumbled before this.

I spent alot of my childhood in Singapore as my dad was obsessed with the place. I do feel a true tie and affinity and love for Singapore, and always feel like i am coming home when I visit. But that;'s about the extent of it. (wishes and hopes a visit might be on the cards soon).

I am not actually contributing profoundly to the thread, just sort of chatting by the way.

@GreenlandTheMovie but that’s what I’m saying. We either get rid of the emphasis on race as an ‘identity’ or we keep concentrating on it and thus bringing about the problems which your friend encounters.

Yes sorry Roses I wasn't accusing you. I just got carried away because its such a crazy notion that dyeing your hair blond somehow changes your ethnicity so that you can't comment on race issues any more... Until you presumably dye it dark again!

I completely agree @GreenlandTheMovie

I also think there's a lot of jealousy and anti-female bias to it all - how dare she do so well and let's make sure to bring her down a peg or two etc etc. Horrible to watch and can't believe so many people are piling on.

People think it is weird, but it also depends on how long she has lived in spain. My relatives have been in English speaking countries for a long time - and when they go to places with their mother tongue, can forget a couple of words.

I also watched a couple of interviews of English footballers who played abroad (eg France) - and their accent (when speaking English) seemed french. I don’t think they were putting it on - it’s just we tend to mirror what is around us.

I guess maybe with hilaria, she obscures a bit more about herself though. Do Spanish people find if offensive?

@SmeleanorSmellstrop

I saw this in the news today and her video explaining herself seemed pretty simple. She said she was born in Boston and family are American but now all live in Spain, and that she libed between Spain and America throughout her childhood, travelling back and forth between the countries. Spoke fluent Spanish and English all jer life, went by Hillary in US and Hilaria in Spain, and family called her Hilaria, so eventually she decided to settle on one name as it was getting confusing using both. She said she grew up bilingual and thats why she sometimes gets confused with words or has an accent.

As a mum of bilingual kids i think this is kind of believable. My kids are called a insert country here version of their name by their friends and acquired family here, and called their Christened name by British family. One isnt old enough to talk yet but one gets a bit confused between languages sometimes and when they speak English can sound like they have a bit of an accent sometimes (although obvs he is very small so this might change). Of course she might be making excuses but if she genuinely lived her life between two countries, two cultures, and two languages, i guess it could be true.

But her cousins have confirmed that she didn’t live between the two countries in any meaningful way, just went on holiday there a few times. I do agree with you about the bilingual thing of forgetting words between languages though - I think a bit too much has been made of the cucumber incident.

But the facts are if you google interviews with her, her accent changes from a strong Spanish one to an American one; she has stated herself that she is Spanish and was born in Spain which is not true; she has lied in multiple interviews that she only moved to the US aged 19; and she has traded off those lies by getting Spanish magazine deals etc. Her recent confessional video contradicts many interviews she has given in the past. So while your explanation makes sense for someone who was genuinely the product of two cultures, that doesn’t seem to be the case here.

All pretty strange in anyone’s books, and now her lying has been exposed, her children’s very Spanish names will be a constant reminder of this embarrassing mess. I’m sure her husband was complicit in the whole story though as he must have met her parents. In the grand scheme of things though there are far far worse things being done by people every day. Her life as a media star is pretty much in tatters now so I hope that she is able to live a peaceful life outside of the public eye.

I'd never heard of her, yet I've seen multiple news reports and this thread. So literally all I know about the woman is that she's from Boston and pretended to be Spanish. Strange world.

@regularbutpanickingabit

The outrage is because she has made a (great) living out of being an ‘exotic’ Spanish woman who didn’t know pop culture because she didn’t have a tv for her Spanish-in-Spain upbringing until she came to NYC at 19. That she was born in Mallorca and lived her childhood there. That her mum is Spanish. That Spanish is her native language. That her skin and hair are dark because she is Spanish. That she deserves to bring a Spanish heritage to jobs and opportunities. All lies.

Why does that matter?

1. She has actively and pro-actively taken magazine and tv jobs, covers, photo shoots and awards from publications dedicated to celebrating Spanish, Latin and Hispanic women. That’s cheating and stealing.

1. Her ‘Spanish’ persona adds a diversity angle to any podcast, job or interview she does. Falsely. That again takes away actual diversity opportunities from actual people. That’s cheating and stealing.

1. She has adopted a stereotype Latin sexy fiery ditzy personality that many actual Spanish/Latin/Hispanic women find offensive as a one-dimensional stereotype they are constantly fighting.

1. She gets confused about being Spanish, Latin or Hispanic in her own descriptions which perpetuates the all-things-vaguely-Hispanic—or-Spanish must be POC and dark haired and dark skinned. She dyes her hair and tans. A lot.

1. This isn’t a problem until she has Insta videos comparing (fake) skin tone with her daughter and talking about her Spanish heritage. Which she doesn’t have. Her American family on both sides is as old as the Mayflower and not Spanish before that, either. Her parents vacationed in spain and retired there in 2011 when she was in her late 20s. That’s setting up a whole load of lies for her own kids to untangle. It is also straying in to racial appropriation as a pretend POC. European Spaniards are not the same as Latin Americans in so many ways.

1. If she perpetuates that stereotype then is she ticking the Hispanic/Latin/Spanish box on forms? Fraud if so. Will her kids? They would expect to because that’s what they’ve been told they are! Why does it matter? It opens different opportunities and denies places/jobs/uni to people entitled to that support.

1. The fake accent is obvious on so many insta posts and TV interviews. That’s been seen as endearing and cute. Yet so many immigrants with genuine accents have been denied opportunities or respect in the US because of their accent. It’s white girl playing at exotic immigrant without any of the hardships and prejudices that those women have to endure.

1. She said she had 44 members of her Spanish relatives fly in for her wedding. She doesn’t have Spanish relatives. If you listen to the interview with Daniel Baldwin or read Ireland’s reply to her post they talk about her ‘chosen’ family in Spain. That suggests holiday friends from over the years. Or nannies she may have had as a child, snd their families. No need for anyone to know but why lie again??

Why she would be celebrated if she didn’t lie?

1. She speaks excellent Spanish snd is bringing her kids up with Spanish nannies and at language immersion schools to help them be as close to bilingual as possible. An amazing gift and opportunity. Each child has their own nanny. That’s dedication.

1. Her love of Spain is infectious. Celebrate it for what it is! Who cares if you give your kids Spanish names, a nod to your passion isn’t a problem. How many people use Irish names or Italian names or any bloody name they like?!

1. She says she had overcome all sorts of eating disorders. Popping out babies is her new obsession. As is exercising publicly and making out she looks after these babies alone. Why lie? Be proud of what you do and who you are. Her body is phenomenal. Celebrate it if you want!

1. If she abd her family have maintained great friendships with ex nannies from Spain then that’s a great testament to their characters and family values. Why not celebrate that instead of pretending they are blood?

Ok. So having covid over Christmas has given me far too much time to think about all this 😂

This is an excellent summary

I’m 😳 at one nanny per child. Blimey! She must be good at man management.

No wonder Alec looks so knackered though. He has quite a wage bill to pay.

Not embellishing your exotic credentials.

She didn't embellish them, she's made them up. It's a network of lies.

I'm so fed up with those pseudo-virtuos posts about "attacking a woman". It doesn't matter who she is, what matters is that she's a fraud and she's been called out, that's it.

Her fraud literally "involves very specific lies or misleading information resulting in a direct benefit from a clear intention to make that pecuniary gain" and it is like any other fraud. It also causes invisible but real harm to real Hispanic and Spanish minorities in the US.

regularbutpanickingabit has it spot on, this is the best post summarising the whole thing, nothing more to add.

I'm so fed up with those pseudo-virtuos posts about "attacking a woman". It doesn't matter who she is, what matters is that she's a fraud and she's been called out, that's it.

Absolutely. There's also a poster upthread who insists we're all 'jealous' of Hilary, even though she (?) herself seems rather obsessed with an obscure woman who has nothing to do with this thread. Ho hum.

"Ilaria" Baldwin puts herself out there. She has made a lucrative career out of her invented 'exotic' persona and by obsessively sharing what most people would consider private details of her life on social media. You can't basically live your life on SM and then whine about being 'attacked' when you get called out on your lies. She's still going to have a life of luxury no matter what people on Twitter say about her.

The 'leave her alone' line is nonsense. Being left alone would be Hilary's worst nightmare.

I thought she was pretty amazing - five children in quick succession and a fabulous figure with wonderful agility, when I'd quickly glance at an article featuring her.
Now you tell me she has a nanny per child
That's kinda sad.