Salma Hayek has defended Hillary ‘Hilaria’ Baldwin amid her Spanish heritage scandal, even admitting she was ‘honored’ learning the star had adopted a background similar to her own as her alter-ego.
In an interview with Andy Cohen on his show Radio Andy, Cohen asked the actress her opinion on the matter while discussing her past role playing Alec Baldwin’s girlfriend on 30 Rock.
‘We all lie a little bit,’ Hayek, 54, who is of Mexican and Lebanese descent, said. ‘She makes my friend happy. She fooled me because she’s such a good mother, and she has five of them. And, you know, I don’t care.
‘We all lie a little bit’: Salma Hayek has defended Hillary ‘Hilaria’ Baldwin amid her Spanish heritage scandal, even admitting she was ‘honored’ learning the star had adopted a background similar to her own as her alter-ego
‘I’m sorry, I don’t mean to betray or hurt anybody’s feelings, and I don’t know if it’s right or if it’s wrong. I’m not going to judge somebody just because of that one thing. And I feel honored that somebody wants to be their alter ego, it’s to be like something that is similar to my roots.
‘It makes me feel proud that people are inspired. Because, you know I am Mexican, Lebanese, but my grandparents, my ancestors on my mother’s side are Spanish. I think she’s smart to want to be Spanish. We’re cool, you know?’
‘You are cool!’ Andy said, laughing.
‘It is a bizarre story, but don’t we all create our own character in life?… I don’t care. She’s not a bad person,’ she said, adding Hilaria was ‘a good person, a good mother, and a good wife, she makes my friend happy, she’s very kind to me, and that’s all I care about.’
Controversy: Hilaria Baldwin has come under fire for her alleged Spanish background (pictured with husband Alec in March 2020)
‘And Spanish people are cool,’ Andy said.
‘And Spanish people are cool! I don’t blame her for choosing that,’ Salma said.
The controversy all started last year, after a viral Twitter thread made accusations about how the yoga guru and mother-of-five had been misrepresenting her background for years.
Posted by an anonymous user, the tweets began, ‘You have to admire Hilaria Baldwin’s commitment to her decade long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person.’
Lights, camera, action: Hayek played Baldwin’s girlfriend on the hit comedy series 30 Rock
It was liked 20,000 times and led to dozens of people finding examples of Baldwin using a Spanish accent, a jarring contrast to her childhood in Boston where she was known as Hillary and considered white by her classmates.
Several videos of Hilaria’s past TV appearances resurfaced showing her commitment to a Spanish accent, including one Today show segment during which she seemingly forgot the English word for ‘cucumber’.
A number of Hilaria’s former classmates also came forward to confirm that she was in fact raised in Weston, Massachusetts, by professor parents – and did not have a hint of a Spanish accent during her childhood and teen years.
In the days after the claims were brought to light, Hilaria shared a series of Instagram videos in which she addressed the controversy.
At first, she denied the allegations, stating that it was only ‘Fake Twitter accounts accusing me of a fake identity!’ but she was later forced to back down and reveal more about her Massachusetts background after thousands of comments.
Scandal: The controversy all started last year, after a viral Twitter thread made accusations about how the yoga guru and mother-of-five had been misrepresenting her background for years