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!

@Wheresmykimchi what about her school mates and school records which show she received her entire education in the US? How does that tally with her saying she ‘grew up in spain’?? Her cousins also said that she spent some family holidays in Spain and has never lived there!

@Wheresmykimchi you should RTFT and/or do some research. She didn't grow up in Spain. She's been over a few times on holiday. Very different things

@Wheresmykimchi

I haven't RTFT . She has cleared this up - she grew up in Spain and considers herself Spanish and speaks both languages. No she isn't "Mentally ill" as many delightful people have said.

No different to what John Barrowman does.

No, she didn't grow up in Spain. That's the point. She has made vague statements about "growing up between Spain and the US", but she is being misleading there. Her family never lived there, until her parents retired there when she was in her late 20s. Maybe they had a holiday home or took frequent holidays there; she hasn't said.

Whether she is mentally ill or not, I've no idea, but comparing the known facts to her known behaviour and her spin on the story does not exactly give a picture of a perfectly sane, healthy, happy and honest person.

This breaks it all down clearly for those who are still confused about her lies:

www.vox.com/22203597/hilaria-baldwin-spanish-accent-ancestry-explained

This breaks it down clearly to those still confused:

www.vox.com/22203597/hilaria-baldwin-spanish-accent-ancestry-explained

But why are people researching when exactly she went there? Who cares? Odd behaviour yes but

@Wheresmykimchi

But why are people researching when exactly she went there? Who cares? Odd behaviour yes but

Obviously you care, since here you are.

Except that she didn't grow up in Spain, and her family only moved there in 2011. Maybe you should have rtft.

@Wheresmykimchi

But why are people researching when exactly she went there? Who cares? Odd behaviour yes but

Because like I explained upthread, her lies and fake persona are actually very offensive to Spanish women. Because she's making a living out of lying about her origins, whilst Spanish children receive abuse and are the victims of constant racism if their parents or grandparents were immigrants. Because her money and Instagram "fame" means she wasn't a victim of that. Because it's just stupid to lie so blatantly about your origins, and make it all about paella and flamenco. It means she's an ignorant, not an all-things Spanish lover.

Also as Spanish she can claim Hispanic status in USA. This allows her to appropriate the culture of a group which is traditionally marginalised in the States. This is the reason in one article she admits that she is indeed white.

@Wheresmykimchi

But why are people researching when exactly she went there? Who cares? Odd behaviour yes but

Because when evidence is produced that someone has built up a fake history, and the person in question reacts by doubling down on it in a vague, self-pitying fashion but not actually producing any evidence to the contrary, it's human nature to want to get to the bottom of it. I know it's just an Instagram yummy mummy who many of us had barely heard of, but there's a natural instinct, I think (though clearly not shared by all), to come down hard on dishonesty. It would be a dysfunctional society if we all just accepted brazen lies with a shrug of our shoulders. There'd be no trust.

I don't care about Hilaria Baldwin but I care about the normalisation of pathological dishonesty.

And we all have too much time on our hands right now, there's that.

@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 😂

@Wheresmykimchi This explains why people think it matters..

You can't really compare her to John Barrowman who lived in Scotland until he was 8 and who's parents are Scottish. The first time I heard his accent change so dramatically it did blow mind though

I thought Hilary pretending to be Spanish was weird but I think I find it more weird the amount of people on here defending her?!

I don't know how she could expect anyone to take her seriously now.

But th fact people have researched this in so much detail.....

@yellowmaoampinball

You can't really compare her to John Barrowman who lived in Scotland until he was 8 and who's parents are Scottish. The first time I heard his accent change so dramatically it did blow mind though

I adore him but he admits himself the American accent is not legit.

@Wheresmykimchi

But why are people researching when exactly she went there? Who cares? Odd behaviour yes but

To me (and I’ve said this already upthread but you haven’t read it) because the pragmatics are fascinating. When did she decide to be Spanish, how did she convince all her friends and family to pretend she is Spanish, was she not worried that an old school friend would pop up at any moment and admit she isn’t Spanish?

Generally the only way you can change your identity is by moving away from everyone you know. But instead she went on YouTube / Instagram and got herself a ton of followers.

How the hell did she manage to pull it off for a decade? That is fascinating.

@strangeaddiction - no they're not really defending someone lying as such.

They're just taking the opportunity to tell other women on MN what they're allowed to discuss and in what shape and form that discussion may take - all the while the bigger picture going wildly over their head.

Taking the opportunity of throwing in dunning kruger thinking "that'll learn 'em" to listen to me etc...

That's what's been happening.

She’s not popular...more infamous

@Wheresmykimchi

But th fact people have researched this in so much detail.....

No one spent hours putting together a bibliography of sources in Harvard citation to explain why she isn't actually Spanish.

A quick google will tell you the facts. Not everything you see on Instagram is actually real, as grown ups we should know that by now.

@Wheresmykimchi

But th fact people have researched this in so much detail.....

Not really. They've done a quick Google.

It seems strange for you to come on here with inaccurate info and then complain when people have got the facts right.

But th fact people have researched this in so much detail
It was someone on Twitter who started this, try asking them why?
Not being snarky, I dont know why anyone hasn't said something before, unless they did but were ignored.
Far as I know, no one on this thread started looking, it was found on Twitter and the fawkes site? Then put up for discussion here.

Fair enough iced purple. I just read her article. I didnt realise it was such a thing! The whole things bizarre.

This is mean, but also quite funny.

I wonder why it's "jealous" and "vindictive" to criticise a wealthy white woman, but perfectly fine to attack Meghan Markle and Alexander Grant.

Maybe some women are desperately jealous of them, eh?

Ahhh I can't get mad about this. Quite funny really!