Hilaria Baldwin has opened up about the controversy surrounding her heritage, and says she was ‘hurt’ by accusations that she faked a Spanish accent
Hilaria Baldwin has spoken out about being “hurt” by allegations that she faked a Spanish accent.
The 41-year-old businesswoman opened up on her family’s new reality show ‘The Baldwins’, where she reflected on the 2020 scandal surrounding her Spanish heritage, admitting the ordeal caused her sadness. In a heartfelt moment, Hilaria highlighted her love for both English and Spanish.
She said: “I love English, I also love Spanish, and when I mix the two it doesn’t make me inauthentic, and when I mix the two, that makes me normal.” She confessed that the accusations had taken a toll: “I’d be lying if I said [the controversy] didn’t make me sad and it didn’t hurt and it didn’t put me in dark places.”
However, she gained strength from her loved ones and their understanding of a multicultural life: “But it was my family, my friends, my community who speak multiple languages, who have belonged in multiple places and realise that we are a mix of all these different things and that’s going to have an impact on how we sound and an impact on how we articulate things and the words that we choose and our mannerisms.”
Hilaria emphasised the normality and humanity of such experiences: “That’s normal. That’s called being human.” Embracing their Spanish roots is important for Hilaria, as she teaches her children to be bilingual like she was, citing her upbringing and her family’s current residence in Spain.
“My family – all my nuclear family – now lives over in Spain. I want to teach my kids pride in speaking more than one language. I think just growing up and speaking two languages is extremely special.” This isn’t the first time Hilaria has addressed the controversy; she previously discussed the issue on social media.
She addressed her followers on Instagram, saying: “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.” She continued to clarify her background: “I was born in Boston and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain. My parents and sibling live in Spain and I chose to live here, in the USA.”
Over the years, fans have noticed a difference in her accent when she made appearances on TV. In 2012, she had a strong Spanish accent while on Good Morning America. A couple of years later, on the Today Show, she appeared to struggle with English while making gazpacho. Then, in 2020, fans noticed her accent was more Americanised.
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