Just when you thought the Hiliaria mess couldn't get any more peligroso for her career, her neighbors started to chime in on Reddit.
If you're not fully up to date on the one little pearl of perfection 2020 left us with, Hilaria Baldwin, famous actor Alec Baldwin's wife, was totally and utterly exposed for what one now-famous Twitter user called a, "decade-long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person." Vogue recently published a relatively succinct explainer on the drama if you're looking to catch up. But now Hilaria (are we calling her that, or going with her given name, Hillary?) and Alec's actual New York City neighbors are weighing in with their own very personal experiences with the Baldwinitos.
Hilaria Baldwin on Instagram
It's an interesting new development in a world where few, if any, celebrity friends have come forward to defend the yogi and mom of five, and a near endless stream of internet memes cracking jokes about her being a Sofia Vergara impersonator have cropped up. If you're wondering why an American woman with roots stretching back almost to the Mayflower pretending to be a fresh-off-the-boat Spanish immigrant is problematic, this recent story in People by Ale Russian explains why immigrants very often really do have real problems making it in America unscathed, and this publicity stunt makes a mockery of those issues.
But anyway, let's read what some of Hillary's actual neighbors in her Manhattan building have to say about her and the whole conflict, shall we?
I live in their building in Manhattan.
We all thought she was Spanish -- i.e., had come to the US for college. Her accent majorly fluctuates in casual conversation, and that's definitely been a source of confusion. She speaks Spanish with the doormen, though they speak NYrican Spanish and thus probably wouldn't be able to say how authentically-Spanish her accent is (though I haven't asked them 'cause I'm sure this's super awkward for them).
Since Yoga Vida is right down the street, some of us have known her since before she was with Alec (~2010?). She had the same fluctuating accent, the same vague origin story, plus the tan and jet-black hair you guys have seen.
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She and Alec are nice, gracious neighbors, and are exceptionally nice to the building's staff. Like most of us, they are very friendly with our awesome doormen, and the guys don't have a bad word to say about them.
I've seen some people mention she's given the impression that they don't have a nanny (not sure if that's irrefutable or if that's just a vibe derived from her social media persona), but they have an army of nannies... With 5 kids/toddlers, and plenty of money, who wouldn't? I kinda think it'd be bad parenting to have 5 kids, millions of dollars, and refuse to pay for help based on some principle. But, yes, they have many nannies, and when they come through the lobby their nannies are always in tow. Their kids are reallyyy well behaved and beyond adorable (Carmen is one of the cutest kids I've ever seen).
The Spanish heritage is definitely front-and-center -- i.e., I've heard both of them mention it repeatedly (and I don't talk to them all that often!).
We have many, many famous folks in the building and in the neighborhood, and I will say that Hilaria has stood out to me as being a name-dropper and very not-down-to-earth. She casually mentions "advice she got from Oprah," etc., in a way that's hard to imagine any of our other celebrity neighbors doing. The worst example: A few years ago I was with a neighbor in the lobby when Hilaria came downstairs, and her baby-bump was showing. The neighbor said "Oh, you're pregnant again, congratulations!" and Hilaria replied "What are you talking about, our publicist announced it a month ago." My neighbor was like "Ummmm I'm just your neighbor, I don't read the tabloids :-/ "
Some folks have mentioned she doesn't seem to have any female friends; I've had that impression as well. Not based on who's visiting them -- I wouldn't know those details -- but based on her personality; i.e., she is one of those women who seems to have very little time for anything female, and turns all the charm and flirtation on anything male. We all know women like that and, well, it's not an endearing trait.
So I just thought I'd fill in some random details. I definitely don't know them well, but I've had enough interactions with them to have derived some impressions. I've been following this story obsessively and have been appalled at the lies and also their response (deflect, blame, defend, lie some more). Wild stuff. It's strange that Alec is on video saying she was born in Boston, but also that she was born in Murcia, Spain, and detailing the amount of time she allegedly spent in Spain as a kid... None of which appears to be true. I dunno what to make of it. But I have gotten the impression that he absolutely worships her; the way he talks about her in interviews reminds me of that quote from the Manchurian Candidate -- "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, warmest, bravest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life."
We have to hand it to her dad for penning a 2015 blog post about his sincere love of Spanish culture, "despite not having an iota of Latin blood." He's obviously the family's pillar of honesty, but it leaves us with even more questions about Hillary's dark hair, eye brows (microblading?), and late-in-life accent. And for all Hillary seems to talk to Oprah, where is Oprah on this issue?
Oprah, we need you. Say something. Throw a Valencia navel orange down to the people, PLEASE.
Hilaria Baldwin on Instagram
And now we're wondering -- was this all clever Hollywood witchcraft designed to keep Hillary relevant in some weird, twisted way in a world where celebrity culture is dwindling and *actual* heroes have sprung forth as neo-famous folk?
If you have your own Hilariaous experiences that deserve a moment in the sun, comment below or reach out to me on social media at @brycegruber.
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