Ireland Baldwin Just Defended Her Stepmom Amid Heritage Controversy
After being accused of faking her Spanish heritage, Hilaria Baldwin's stepdaughter is defending her.
Ireland Baldwin, the 25-year-old daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, just came to her stepmother's defense in a major way. Over the past week, Hilaria Baldwin, Alec's wife and the mother of Ireland's five half-siblings, has been accused of faking her Spanish heritage and Spanish accent on social media, after a few people unearthed videos of inconsistencies in how she talks and what she's said regarding her family's background. In response, Ireland shared a series of videos on her Instagram Story on Sunday, Dec. 27, supporting Hilaria and calling the "detective" work of those on Twitter and Instagram "pathetic." Read on to see what's been said about Hilaria and how Ireland (and Alec) have defended her. And for another recent celebrity controversy, check out This Former Real Housewife Wants You to "Boycott" Her Show.
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Ireland called the accusations against Hilaria "sad and pathetic."
"It's so pathetic that anyone would want to play detective and dig that deep into someone's life that they don't know. Don't know anything about, don't know how they were raised, who they were actually raised by. It's just kind of sad and pathetic," Ireland said in an Instagram Story posted on Dec. 27.
Ireland did not directly address the validity of the claims, but she made it a point to say her stepmom is a good person. "She is very kind. She's 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. And, you know, she could be a really malicious, terrible, horrible human who tears people down, but she isn't," she said. "Hilaria is a wonderful mother who takes great care of her kids and she takes great care of my dad and that's all that really matters to me."
The controversy started last week when someone on Twitter accused Hilaria of "impersonating a Spanish person."
Baldwin's heritage came under fire last week after Twitter user @lenibriscoe started a thread claiming Hilaria is faking her Spanish heritage. "You have to admire Hilaria Baldwin's commitment to her decade long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person," the user tweeted.
"Here she is pretending not to know how to say cucumber in English," the user wrote in one of the many subsequent tweets accompanied by photos and videos of Hilaria.
Hilaria defended herself on her Instagram Story.
Hilaria posted a long video on Instagram on Dec. 27, in which she explained her backstory and the history of her family.
"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 summarized in the caption. "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. 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."
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One journalist then continued to call her out.
Tracie Egan Morrissey, a journalist with over 71,000 followers, joined in via Instagram on Sunday, after Hilaria's video was posted. She pointed out that on Baldwin's agency's website, her place of birth is listed as Mallorca, Spain, noting that she was raised in Boston—when in fact, she was actually born in Boston. In a series of Instagram stories, Morrissey pointed out that in a few Hola features, Baldwin claimed her native language was Spanish.
"My absolute pet peeve is when people get caught in a lie and then blame it on journalists (who merely reported the facts they were fed)," Morrissey captioned one of the slides.
Alec also defended Hilaria on Instagram.
Alec also came to Hilaria's defense, sharing a video on Instagram on Sunday in which he said "people feel like they can say anything" on Twitter. "You have to consider the source. There's things that have been said lately about people that I love, that I care about deeply, which are ridiculous. I mean, just ridiculous," he said, not calling out his wife's name or the specific allegations. "I would say the majority of what's been said… is false. It's so spectacularly false. And they've said it about people I love, false things. … When you love somebody, you want to defend them. Consider the source."
Hilaria said she will be taking a "long" break from social media.
In a follow-up Instagram story, Hilaria explained that this controversy was taking her energy away from her children. She added that she would be taking a break from social media "for a very long time" as a result. And for more celebrities who've made headlines recently, check out Leah Remini Says This Was the Real Reason for Tom Cruise's COVID Rant.
