Alec Baldwin, Daughter Ireland Defend His Wife Hilaria Amid Fake Accent Drama

Dec 30, 2020 by apost team

This week, renowned actor Alec Baldwin and his daughter Ireland have taken to social media to defend Hilaria Baldwin, 36, amid the controversy surrounding her alleged fake accent and dubious Spanish heritage claims. The allegations came after a now-viral Tweet pointed out her fluctuating accent, which sometimes sounds noticeably foreign yet other times native. The thread has since sparked a significant discussion on Hilaria Baldwin's true heritage and whether she had faked an ethnic accent in the past. 

Alec Baldwin posted an eight-and-a-half minute video on Instagram on Monday, in which he attempted to clear the air around the controversy surrounding his wife. He slammed the critics while at the same time urged his followers to "consider the source" and not believe everything they read. 

"We live in a world now where we're hidden behind the anonymity of social media. People feel that they can say anything. … They probably would like to do anything if they weren't at risk of getting caught and going to prison," Baldwin said. "Because they can't do that, because that involves real commitment to do something, to express those feelings, they say things, no profile picture very often, sometimes yes, no identifying features there, hidden behind the anonymity of social media, they want to just shoot it all over you and spray it all over you, their venom and their hate."

"You have to consider the source," the 62-year-old actor continued. "There's things that have been said lately about people that I love, that I care about deeply, which are ridiculous."

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His 25-year-old model daughter Ireland also took to the platform in defense of her step-mother, posting numerous Instagram stories describing Hilaria Baldwin's critics "sad and pathetic."

She began her statement by expressing her love and appreciation for the wellness guru, insisting that she is a "good person."

"She's a caring person who has always respected my relationship with my dad and I have a great relationship with her. … Hilaria is a wonderful mother who takes great care of her kids and she takes great care of my dad and that's really all that matters to me," she said, as quoted by U.S. Weekly.

Ireland then took to the comment section in Hilaria's most recent Instagram post, where she penned out a lengthy statement towards her step-mother's attackers. 

"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," she wrote. "I think you are an incredible mom and an inspiration. I know what it's like to have a really awful piece of s–t woman in your place trying to be my stepmom… And I thank God often that the stars aligned and I wound up with a stepmom like you," Ireland wrote. 

"I love you and I find it really sad that people have the time that they do to play detective and make up a lot of lies and fabricate a lot of truths to fit a story," she continued. "I'm sorry that people are giving you such a hard time during a time that is already so [sic] difficult for everyone in this world coping with the realities of Covid and being without family over the holidays and even losing family during the holidays due to this madness… I know who you are and I know what you are not and I'm lucky to know you for who you truly are."

Hilaria Baldwin first became the subject of controversy on December 20, when comedian Amy Schumer reposted the yoga instructor's photo posing in lingerie with her newborn son Eduardo. Schumer jokingly accompanied her repost with the caption, "Gene and I wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season. Enjoy it with whatever family members are talking to you this year" –– humorously referring to the fact that she looks nothing like Baldwin. According to Vulture, Baldwin never got the joke, Schumer then deleted it, and the two quickly made up. 

But while that piece of drama submerged almost as quickly as it popped up, Twitter user @lenibriscoe took to the platform to tweet, "You have to admire Hilaria Baldwin's commitment to her decade long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person." The tweet featured a long thread of apparent evidence that Baldwin has allegedly been faking her accent and ethnic background.

In their thread, @lenibriscoe featured videos comparing Baldwin's accent many years ago, which sounds Spanish, to more recent videos in which the accent has seemingly disappeared. One video showed Baldwin on a Today Show segment, where she "forgets" the English word for cucumber. The Twitter user also featured supposed evidence that while Baldwin has played up her Spanish heritage in the past –– multiple sources and biographies previously stated that she was born in Mallorca, Spain –– Baldwin's family actually hails from Boston, Massachusets. 

According to @lenibriscoe's findings, Baldwin's mother, Kathryn Hayward, was still a student in Massachusetts when Baldwin was born in 1984, which would make it impossible for Baldwin to have been born in Spain. The thread also features claims from some users who had reportedly attended a school in Massachusetts with Baldwin, whose birth name is apparently Hillary Hayward-Thomas, contradicting her claim that she had grown up in Spain. 

Further adding to the controversy, Senior Creative Director of Buzzfeed Rachel Zarell tweeted a video on December 27 featuring an excerpt of a Mom Truths podcast episode from April, in which Baldwin made a guest appearance. In the clip, Baldwin says she "moved here when I was 19 to go to NYU." When one of the hosts asks where she moved from, Baldwin replied, "From –– my family lives in Spain. They live in Mallorca," supposedly dodging the question. 

In her thread, Zarell also pointed out further alleged discrepancies in Baldwin's heritage claims. In one tweet, she posted a screenshot of a comment written by Baldwin in 2012, in which the 36-year-old wrote she was "born in Boston" and "spent most of my life there." In another screenshot, Baldwin replies in Spanish to a fan in 2011, where she said she "lived in Spain when she was little." Zarell then went on to post screenshots of publications referring to Baldwin as Spanish-born or a Spanish native, writing, "But pubs like Us Weekly have been calling her a Spanish native for years and they got it from somewhere."

Hilaria Baldwin has since responded to the allegations in an Instagram video, where she addressed questions surrounding her accent and heritage. In the over seven-minute long video, Baldwin confirmed that her name is, in fact, Hillary.

"A bit about me. 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.

"I was born in Boston and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain," she continued. "My parents and sibling live in Spain and I chose to live here, in the USA. We celebrate both cultures in our home — Alec [Baldwin] and I are raising our children bilingual, just as I was raised. This is very important to me. I understand that my story is a little different, but it is mine, and I'm very proud of it."

In her video, Baldwin owed her seesawing accent to growing up bilingual and frequently switching between English and Spanish.  

"I am that person, if I've been speaking a lot of Spanish, I tend to mix them or if I'm speaking a lot of English I mix that, it's one of those things I've always been insecure about," she asserted.

She then explained that she tries to enunciate and "speak clearly" for work but sometimes mixes the two languages when she becomes "nervous or upset." 

"It's not something I'm playing at … I want that to be very, very clear," she added.

Regarding her name, she said: "When I was growing up, in this country I would use the name Hillary, and in Spain I would use Hilaria and my family, my parents, call me Hilaria." In an attempt to avoid any confusion, Baldwin ultimately decided to stick with one version –– Hilaria –– because that is what her family calls her. 

"One of the things I love about what my parents called me, it means happy in both languages, we can all be really clear that it's the same name, it's just a few letters different, we shouldn't be so upset about it," Baldwin continued. "Whatever you guys want to call me, I will respond to both."

Baldwin then expressed she didn't understand what all the controversy was about, as she doesn't just identify as 'Spanish' or 'American,' but rather as a mix of both. 

"I'm getting attacked for being who I am … people wanting to label me Spanish or America, can't it be both? It's frustrating that is my story."

Whatever the truth regarding Hilaria Baldwin's accent and national identity might be, online harassment and abuse are never warranted. 

Did you grow up bilingual or between two cultures as well? How did you find it to affect your accent and identity? Let us know in the comments, and make sure you pass this along to your friends and family!