Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria Baldwin’s biggest controversies: from letting her 10-year-old wear make-up and her ‘fake’ Spanish accent and heritage, to Alec ‘begging’ fans to follow her on Instagram

Feb 25 , 2024

Like her husband Alec, Hilaria Baldwin is no stranger to controversy. Photo: @hilariabaldwin/Instagram

Hilaria Baldwin is being blasted on social media for letting her 10-year-old daughter wear a full face of make-up.

Alec Baldwin’s wife, who has nearly one million followers on Instagram, posted a photo of herself and her daughter Carmen taking a mirror selfie, showcasing their glam makeovers. “Date night with my first baby … she did both our make-up,” wrote the yoga teacher, “How quickly they get big and how amazing it is to get to be inspired by them. Carmen, you are such a special soul … just like your siblings … all unique and equally incredible.”

Hilaria and Alec Baldwin have been together since 2011. Photo: @hilariabaldwin/Instagram

Netizens were quick to criticise the mother-of-seven for allowing such a young child to experiment with make-up. “Too much make-up” wrote one person, while another shared, “Isn’t she too young for make-up?”

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Hilaria Baldwin has come under fire from netizens for allowing her daughter to wear a full face of make-up. Photo: @alecbaldwininsta/Instagram

With the rise of platforms like TikTok, it appears that those sporting make-up are getting younger and younger. The trend has raised real concerns among parents, who say they are seeing their kids grow up too fast. But Hilaria doesn’t seem too bothered, and hasn’t responded to the backlash, with some fans even coming to her defence in the comments section, saying that it’s up to her how she chooses to raise her children.

Here are some of her biggest controversies to date:

2. The questions around her “Spanish heritage”

Alec Baldwin and his then pregnant wife Hilaria Baldwin at a film premiere. Photo: Invision/AP

Since Hilaria married Alec in 2012, many of her interviews and social media posts seemed to imply that she is Spanish, as reported by Business Insider. Besides captioning many of her posts in both Spanish and English, she has also shared videos of herself performing Latin dance and retweeted a Latina magazine article that ranked her among the “15 best dressed Latinas of the week”.

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After fans discovered she was born Hillary Thomas to white American parents in Boston, she responded in an interview with The New York Times. “The things I have shared about myself are very clear,” she said, “I was born in Boston. I spent time in Boston and in Spain. My family now lives in Spain. I moved to New York when I was 19 years old and I have lived here ever since. For me, I feel like I have spent 10 years sharing that story over and over again. And now it seems like it’s not enough.”

3. Accentgate

As a result of people being confused by her heritage, her accent came under scrutiny too. Per Vox, her “Spanish accent” was allegedly put on, and many netizens ran with it when they found out, kick-starting a slew of memes.

4. Begging Baldwin

Hilaria Baldwin has been accused of trying to pass as Spanish. Photo: @hilariabaldwin/Instagram

In another cringe move involving Hilaria, Alec Baldwin drew online derision when he took to Instagram to “beg” fans to follow his wife on Instagram for her 39th birthday in 2023.

“My wife is just, it seems like she’s just centimetres shy of 1 million followers on Instagram,” he said in the video clip. “And I would like to ask you, as a birthday gift, or even just [a] gesture to my wife, would you follow her on Instagram?”

Actor Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria have seven children together. Photo: @hilariabaldwin/Instagram

“I would like as many of you as possible. I would like a really great great surge of you to follow my wife on Instagram to say ‘Happy Birthday’ to her,” he added, “Would you do that for me? Would you follow my wife on Instagram? Please? Thanks.”

5. The eye smack

Hilaria Baldwin posted this photo as a tribute to her husband Alec on their 12 year anniversary. Photo: @hilariabaldwin/Instagram

Maybe it was an accident, but back in 2021, Alec shared a video of him and his wife strolling around NYC with the caption, “I’ve been oddly vulnerable about my eyes lately. And this is the response I get …” with the video proceeding to show Hilaria smacking his eyes, as reported by She Knows.

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6. The age gap

There is a 25 year age gap between Alec and Hilaria Baldwin. Photo: @hilariabaldwin/Instagram

Large age gaps are not uncommon, particularly in Hollywood, but they continue to raise eyebrows among observers. Hilaria is 25 years – yup, a quarter of a century – younger than her husband Alec. She’s currently 40, and he is 65.

Alec and Hilaria Baldwin with their daughter Ilaria Catalina Irena. Photo: @hilariabaldwin/Instagram

While that’s a pretty huge age difference, it’s not the biggest we’ve seen – just ask Steven Tyler, who’s 39 years older than his girlfriend Aimee Preston, or Sean Penn, 63, who’s seeing an actress 24 years his junior.

Fame and celebrity

Hilaria Baldwin is being blasted on social media for letting her 10-year-old daughter wear a full face of make-up – while some fans have defended the mother, others aren’t impressed
It’s not the first time Alec Baldwin’s wife has stirred controversy – many of her interviews and social media posts seemed to imply that she’s from Spain, but not everyone is convinced