One of the final entries into the news of the weird that unfortunately dominated 2020 was the revelation that Alec Baldwin‘s Spanish yoga instructor wife Hilaria Baldwin was… well… not Spanish.
A few folks in the know had apparently been compiling evidence for years, but it hit a tipping point and went viral in late December. Clips of her not speaking with a Spanish accent surfaced; friends from school talked about how she had been Hillary, a very sweet but completely white, American girl. And we learned her parents weren’t even Spanish immigrants or anything, they were just like fourth generation New Englanders. They just had a summer home in Spain that she visited from time to time.
And yet she spoke so much and leaned so heavily on her Spanish heritage — even her wedding was Spanish-themed, based in her culture. It basically seemed like her entire public persona over the past decade had been a lie. And she paid for it, getting fired from multiple brand deals.
After trying to defend herself, she went radio silent.
Well, it’s been over a month since we’ve heard from Hillary, and now she’s back to tell us what’s what. But has she learned? Is she ready to hold herself accountable for lying for years? For this ludicrous level of cultural appropriation?
Not exactly. She began her first Instagram post in 5 weeks by writing:
“I’ve spent the last month listening, reflecting, and asking myself how I can learn and grow.”
That sounds good! But then she kiiiiinda doubled down on the whole being raised Spanish thing, saying:
“My parents raised my brother and me with two cultures, American and Spanish, and I feel a true sense of belonging to both.”
We mean… raised? That’s an exaggeration at best, right? Moving to Spain does not make you Spanish. And living there only sometimes definitely doesn’t make you Spanish. We mean, she went to school in the US. Among people who don’t have accents. Are we being crazy here??
Anyway, she then kinda sorta apologized:
“The way I’ve spoken about myself and my deep connection to two cultures could have been better explained – I should have been more clear and I’m sorry. I’m proud of the way I was raised, and we’re raising our children to share the same love and respect for both.”
Uh, we feel like she was pretty much diminishing any wrongdoing by apologizing for a miscommunication, not for misleading people. There’s a crucial difference; the former sort of resolves you of any responsibility. Anyway, she finished by talking about learning and growing again, saying:
“Being vulnerable and pushing ourselves to learn and grow is what we’ve built our community on, and I hope to get back to the supportive and kind environment we’ve built together.”
Of course by “our community” she means the proud people of Spain. OK, we kid, but… was this “apology” effective for anyone? What do YOU think??
Ch-ch-check out the post for yourself and let us know what you think in the comments (below)!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CK7PjQtHtOy/
A post shared by Hilaria Thomas Baldwin (@hilariabaldwin)
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