Alec Baldwin defends wife over fake Spanish accent
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Alec Baldwin stood up for his wife Hilaria (both above) and lambasted trolls and tabloids, in response to claims that she was faking her Spanish heritage.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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Actor Alec Baldwin's wife, Hilaria Baldwin, has come under fire in recent days over accusations that she was faking her Spanish heritage.
In an Instagram video on Sunday, the yoga instructor clarified: "My family is white. Ethnically, I'm a mix of many, many, many things. Culturally, I grew up with two cultures, so it's really as simple as that."
Her post was a response to speculation on Twitter about her cultural roots.
Twitter user @lenibriscoe had suggested the star's accent and connections to Spain were a ruse and pointed out that certain articles suggested that Hilaria Baldwin was born in Spain, despite her being a Boston native.
There were videos online in which her Spanish accent seemed to vary and there were also claims that she often went by the name Hillary, not Hilaria, while growing up in Boston.
In her video response, Hilaria Baldwin noted that many of her family members live in Spain and emphasised that the accent was not something she was "playing at".
The original Twitter thread, on the other hand, included information that suggested neither of her parents were raised in Spain.
Hours after his wife's video went online, Alec Baldwin took to Instagram to slam both Twitter trolls and tabloids and admonished readers to "consider the source" when evaluating a news story.
Although the 30 Rock star did not specifically address the drama, he explained that he wanted to share a video because, "there are things that have been said lately about people that I love, that I care about deeply, which are just ridiculous".
A third Baldwin, Ireland, joined in the fray on Monday. The 25-year-old daughter of Alec Baldwin and his former wife Kim Basinger posted her support for her stepmother on Instagram Stories.
She said: "It's so pathetic that anyone would want to play detective and dig that deep into someone's life that they... don't know anything about, don't know how they were raised, who they were actually raised by."
She added: "I know who you are and I know what you are not and I'm lucky to know you for who you truly are."
