Washington [US], March 17 : Author and wife of actor Alec Baldwin, Hilaria Baldwin, recently opened up about the backlash she faced because of her accent. She recalled how she learned to change her accent long before it sparked controversy in 2020 when people questioned the authenticity of her Spanish origins.
"Growing up in a way where you have multiple cultural influences on you means that you're never going to be able to fit in. You can try," she said, reported People.
""You can chameleon. You know, people who code-switch we're very good at chameleoning... and you don't even think you're not even thinking about it. It's just normal. It's just natural," she added.
During a conversation with the 15-year-old sister of her daughter Carmen Gabriela's friend, the television personality liked the experience of "code-switching" or adopting one's accent or mannerisms to fit social norms to speaking with an elderly person, reported People.
"They say that it's like communication if you ever talk to a really old person who cannot hear, and I'm gonna emphasize, I'm gonna speak slower," she explained. "And you're not even really thinking about it. You just start to do it."
She shared, "You know what it's called? Code-switching... I had to learn about it because the whole world was mean to me, and so I had to learn it. It's code-switching," as per the outlet.
"Being in the spotlight, as people like to call it. People say, 'Oh, don't you get used to it?' No, you don't get used to it," she said. "You never get used to people being mean. But you take a deep breath, and I think you learn to distance yourself from it, and so, you know, you just try turning down the volume in my head a bit... and I'm not gonna take it personally."
The entire conversation about her heritage started in December 2020 when social media users alleged that Hilaria was fabricating her Spanish roots when she was actually born in Boston, Massachusetts, and her birth name is Hilary.
"I've seen chatter online questioning my identity and culture. This is something I take very seriously, and for those who are asking I'll reiterate my story, as I've done many times before," she wrote at the time, along with a since-deleted, seven-minute video. "I was born in Boston and grew up spending time with my family between Massachusetts and Spain. My parents and sibling live in Spain and I chose to live here, in the U.S.A," according to People.
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