Hilaria Baldwin landed in some hot water in 2021 ago based on the fact that — despite trying to give her children Spanish names and talk with a Spanish accent — she was actually born Hillary Thomas in Boston, Massachusetts. Before that, Hilaria tried stating that she was born in Mallorca, Spain — known in English as Majorca.
The truth is that Hilaria spent much of her childhood in a five-bedroom, five-bath house on Pinckney Street in Beacon Hill, which her wealthy parents had bought in 1987, according to Page Six.
The publication spoke to a neighbor who knew her, confirming that back then, she was an American who went by the name Hillary. "She lived here since she was a child," the source said. "She didn't call herself Hilaria then, just Hillary. And she certainly didn’t speak with a Spanish accent."
As embarrassing as an incident that this may have been, Hilaria is doubling down on her Spanish roots. In reality, her parents had moved to Mallorca much later in life, when Hilaria was 27 years old.
But in 2021, Hilaria posted a caption on Instagram stating that, more or less, she still sees her American family as being Spanish as well. "When you are multi, it can feel hard to belong," she captioned her photo. "You are constantly going back and forth, trying to be more this or more that."
"You will never quite fit in because the other parts of you shape and influence all your parts," she continued. "Nothing inside you can truly exist in a segregated environment. We need to normalize the fact that we are all unique. Our culture, languages, sexual orientations, religions, political beliefs are ALLOWED TO BE FLUID."
Hilaria's words are correct that everyone should be embraced for who they are. But it still left some people questioning whether Hilaria is still trying to insinuate that she and her family are Spanish, instead of simply being fans of Spain and its traditions.
In the statement, she also alluded to her own scandal. "No two of us are completely alike," she said. "People will try to find reason to invalidate you, therefore their attacks seem justified in their eyes. They can hate, poke fun & shame-because you 'asked for it' through your audacity to be you."
"If you are suffering, please know that a loving group see your validity and belonging," she noted. "We love & accept you, just as you are. You don't need to be this and then that, switching, dancing to the beat of someone else's drum. You can be 100% you all the time." Again, it's a beautiful sentiment. We, as people, deserve the right to feel like ourselves and feel accepted.
It's possible that Hilaria wrote it as a statement asking people to back off of her and her family. But at the same time, talking about the difficulty of coming from a "multi" family may feel a little insulting for people who have a hard time with being accepted as multicultural, and are trying to incorporate their own childhood cultures into their children's experience despite living in a different country.
Hilaria also has plenty of resources on her side, including the ability to visit her parents in their vacation home in Spain with the kids.
It's one thing to admire and want to learn more about the cultural traditions in other countries, but another to claim them as your own. And that's why several people raised their eyebrows that Hilaria would bring this issue up once again after keeping somewhat of a low profile when her decades being Hillary Thomas were unveiled.
The Cut explained the outrage perfectly. "Baldwin's nearly 400-word post brushes over what many took issue with: the fact that it took her so long to correct misconceptions about her background, leading people to incorrectly label her as Latina and assume she was of Spanish descent," they wrote. "Whether her obscured background was intentional or not, she had years of opportunities to clarify these misconceptions and apparently chose not to."
Hilaria, who's been in the public eye since marrying Alec Baldwin in 2012, addressed the accusations in a bold way when they first came out. She posted a video on Instagram in hopes of clearing things up, but based on the weight of her scandal — including talking in an accent — it was still baffling for many to understand.
"I was born in Boston and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain," she wrote. "My parents and sibling live in Spain and I chose to live here, in the USA. We celebrate both cultures in our home—Alec 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."
But, even that didn't necessarily appease people. "You lied," one commenter stated. "Why can't you just take accountability for those lies?" It's great that Alec and Hilaria are raising their children in a biligual household. It's also great that they get the chance to visit Spain regularly. But, Hilaria had years to be open about who she really is, and she didn't.
Several biographies of Hilaria, including one from her own agency, per Page Six, stated for years that the yoga instructor was "born on the island of Mallorca, Spain, and raised in Boston." Despite how she chooses to raise her children, she still built her career upon a lie. She even told magazines that she lived in Spain until she went to college, stating "I came for school and I never, ever left."
So, it seems like she's still unwilling to drop that false narrative even after the backlash. Everyone in this world should feel free to be themselves. But, it's a bit tough for someone like Hilaria to spread that message when she, herself, hasn't been truthful about her own identity for years on end.
