Hilaria Baldwin responded to accusations that she’s been faking her Spanish accent and cultural roots in an Instagram video on Sunday.
“My family is white. Ethnically, I’m a mix of many, many many things,” Baldwin explained. “Culturally, I grew up with two cultures, so it’s really as simple as that.”
Her video comes as a response to ongoing Twitter discourse surrounding speculation about Baldwin’s past. A Twitter thread by user @lenibriscoe suggested the star’s accent and connections to Spain were a ruse, pointing out that some articles suggest that Baldwin was born in Spain, despite her being a Boston native.
Other accusations include videos in which the yoga instructor’s accent seems to vary and the revelation that she often went by Hillary while growing up in Boston. But Baldwin responded by saying that she spent time in both Spain and Massachusetts and used the names based on whichever language she was speaking in. As for the fluctuating accent, she chalks that up to nerves.
“It’s one of those things that I’ve been a little insecure about over different times, and when I try to work, I try to annunciate a little bit more, but if I get nervous or upset or something, then I start to mix the two.”
In her video, Baldwin notes that many of her family members live in Spain and that the accent is not something she is “playing at.” The original Twitter thread, on the other hand, included evidence that suggests neither Baldwin’s mother or father were raised in Spain. The user shared a video of her mother discussing growing up in Massachusetts and an obituary for her paternal grandfather that describes a life spent in the New England area.
But Baldwin suggests on Instagram that she still grew up in Spain since her family often spent time in the country. Her family also called her Hilaria, not Hillary, and she eventually chose to consolidate and go by the name her family knew her as.
“I feel really lucky that I grew up with two cultures, I grew up speaking two languages,” she said. “Did I always do it well? Through your awkward years and trying to be more this or be more that. Yes I am a white girl. Let’s be clear that Europe has a lot of white people there.”