Laine Priestley explains the insanity - just in case anyone out there has not had the joy of hearing about the strangeness of it all.
Ms Baldwin is a yoga instructor, social media influencer and mother of seven - however if you asked her to list these facts she might have explained it all in strongly accented English littered with grammatical mistakes.
However in December 2020 when a Twitter user wrote "you have to admire Hilaria Baldwin’s commitment to her decade long grift where she impersonates a Spanish person", the unbelievable truth unravelled.
Half-Spanish Hilaria born in Mallorca turned out to be Hillary Thomas from Boston whose family’s immigration to the US pre-dates the American Revolution.
The internet went mad.
Some were furious and calling "culture vulture" and many others saw the situation as hilarious.
The cleanup soon came sweeping in, with Hilaria - or Hillary - telling The New York Times "the things I have shared about myself are very clear".
"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," she said.
"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."
Except, that did not explain the seemingly Spanish accent, or the infamous incident where she "forgot" the word for cucumber when appearing on The Today Show.
Ms Baldwin’s former teacher from The Cambridge School of Weston in Boston soon came in to clear it all up to Boston.com.
"Her name [at school] was Hillary," the teacher told the news website.
"She had zero Spanish accent. She was a good kid, kinda quiet, and she was a gifted dancer - phenomenal."
Whatever the truth, the drama continues to be one of the most iconic on the internet, but it is unclear if she will ever shake the title of "identity hoaxer".
