Ireland Baldwin apologizes and says step mom Hilaria’s alleged Spanish heritage is ‘her business’

Ireland Baldwin appeared to distance herself from her stepmother Hilaria Baldwin’s heritage controversy as she issued an apology to those grappling with ‘any kind of hurt’ during these trying times.

After defending her stepmother’s alleged Spanish heritage multiple times on Instagram, Ireland clarified her initial comments and thanked those who corrected her after she inaccurately referred to Hilaria as being part of the Latinx community.

Ireland, 25, appeared to distance herself from the scandal as she deferred all further commentary about the subject to her stepmother.

‘Like I mentioned yesterday, I do love my step mom very much. I think she’s a strong, kind, and a caring human being. Without saying anything further on all of this, I think it is her business and not my own to discuss her family background and answer your questions,’ Ireland said in a lengthy statement posted to Instagram. 

She also thanked those who pointed out she had incorrectly referred to Hilaria, whose Spanish heritage is under question, as part of the Latinx community.

Hilaria claims to be from European country of Spain, however the term Latinx refers to those of Latin American origin.

‘I really appreciate the Instagram friends in my DMs who have been very open and honestly having discussions about cultural appropriation, the right terms to address their communities, and sharing with me ways that I can do better,’ she wrote. 

Ireland posted a screenshot of message she received from a follower, who corrected her on the Latinx error.

‘Really appreciate Instagram friends who reach out and correct me and give me opportunities to learn. I am here to listen!’ Ireland said.

Hilaria’s heritage scandal erupted last week after claims that she had spent years misrepresenting her heritage went viral on Twitter, alongside a string of videos presented as evidence that her Spanish accent isn’t real.

Several former classmates came forward to confirm that Hilaria was in fact raised in Weston, Massachusetts, by professor parents without a hint of a foreign accent.

The influencer was forced to issue the rambling seven-minute video Sunday amid an online frenzy days after a woman tweeted: ‘You have to admire Hilaria Baldwin’s commitment to her decade long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person.’

In the next few days, several videos of Hilaria’s past TV appearances resurfaced showing her commitment to a Spanish accent, including one where she appeared to forget the English word for ‘cucumber’.

In past interviews, Hilaria said she was born in Spain and raised in Boston, but also claimed she had come to the United States to attend NYU at age 19.  

Hilaria confessed she was indeed born in Boston in a recent seven-minute long video, where she said she is a ‘white girl.’

‘Let’s be very clear that Europe has a lot of white people in there and my family is white. Ethnically, I am a mix of many, many, many things. Culturally, I grew up with two cultures so it’s really as simple as that.’

In the video, Hilaria said that she spent ‘some of’ her childhood in Spain and ‘some’ of it in Massachusetts, where she was born. She maintained that her entire family lives in Spain now. 

‘There was a lot of back and forth my entire life,’ the Mom Brain podcaster explained.

‘And I’m really lucky that I grew up speaking two different languages and I’m trying to raise my kids, so they speak two languages too. And that’s something very important to me especially having my family abroad.’

Hilaria added: ‘Yeah I’m a different kind of Bostonian but that’s who I am, and you kind of can’t change your background – nor would I want to – I’m really, really proud of who I am.’