Everything That Alec Baldwin Has Needed To Apologize For
Ever since the tragic on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021, award-winning actor Alec Baldwin has been dealing with the aftermath. He has maintained his innocence in the situation since it happened, and his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, has said that her husband might develop PTSD from the trauma surrounding the incident. Although the investigations into this tragic event are continuing, the Baldwins haven't stepped back from the spotlight — they have maintained a pervasive presence in the media, as well as online.
Though Hutchins' death is the first incident of its magnitude to happen to Alec, he has a history of issuing apologies. He even managed to get himself banned from the Philippines. The actor offended a Filipino senator when he made a joke about wanting a Filipino mail-order bride. However, that's not all he has had to apologize for.
From losing his temper on social media to leaving a horrific voicemail for his 11-year-old daughter back in 2007, Alec Baldwin is, unfortunately, familiar with backlash. Though for the most part, his career hasn't suffered from these occurrences, it seems like you wouldn't want to get on the bad side of this actor.
Alec Baldwin shifted the blame for Halyna Hutchins' death away from him
Although Alec Baldwin has apologized for the tragedy that took place on the set of "Rust" in October 2021, he has also said he is not to blame for the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, nor for the injury of director Joel Souza. But Halyna's husband, Matt Hutchins — who filed a lawsuit against Baldwin — sees the actor's blame-shifting as an "absurd" action.
Speaking to Today, Matt said, "The idea that the person holding the gun, causing it to discharge, is not responsible is absurd to me. ... In the end, justice won't bring Halyna back, but maybe the memory of her can help keep people safe and prevent something like this from ever happening again." The lawsuit, against both Baldwin and others attached to the film, alleged "reckless" behavior and cost-cutting led to the on-set misfire.
The misfire wasn't the first time questionable behavior on the "Rust" set had been mentioned, either. Just hours before Halyna and Souza were shot, crew members walked off the set in protest of the working conditions. Per the Los Angeles Times, three insiders confirmed that the complaints from the crew included long hours worked, as well as commutes and paycheck delays. They added that a camera operator had brought up gun safety to a manager the weekend prior to the shooting and pointed out that two "accidental prop gun discharges" had already happened while filming.
The actor went off on his then-11-year-old daughter
In 2007, TMZ leaked a problematic voicemail that Alec Baldwin had left for his then-11-year-old daughter, Ireland Baldwin. The message was left while the actor was in a fraught custody battle with Ireland's mother, Alec's ex-wife, Kim Basinger. Alec called his daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig" and told her she didn't possess "the brains or the decency as a human being." He then went on to complain about Basinger, who he referred to as a "pain in the ass."
After the voicemail went public, Alec issued an apology when he appeared on The View. He acknowledged that he took his anger out on the wrong person, via People. He stated that he knew what he said was "improper and inappropriate" and apologized for saying those things to Ireland. He also "insisted the incident was isolated."
As a result of the voicemail, he asked to be released from his "30 Rock" contract at NBC, so his actions wouldn't negatively affect the show or its cast and crew members, though the network kept him on. Time noted that after his apology, Alec publicly accused Basinger of leaking the recording to hurt him, turn Ireland against him, and potentially harm his "custodial rights."
Alec Baldwin had an ugly divorce from Kim Basinger
While divorces do happen, this particular Hollywood break-up between Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin was explosive. Though they might be "cool" now, their divorce that began in 2001 was anything but. It was finalized in 2002, after the two actors finally reached an agreement around the custody of their daughter, Ireland, and $3 million in legal fees, according to ABC News. In a 2016 interview with Net-a-Porter, Basinger explained (via E! News) that the ugliness of the divorce was particularly hard on their daughter.
"Divorce is hard on a kid, no matter how you cut it," Basinger revealed. "And ours was very public and nasty. So I brought up Ireland in a very unconventional way. I just wanted her to be free. If she wanted to have her friends over and write over the walls with pen, that was fine. I wanted her childhood to be full of love and light and animals and friends."
Baldwin has shared his side of the divorce as well, stating the proceedings were very painful for him. He mentioned on 20/20 (via ABC News) that judges and lawyers were "corrupt, inefficient, lazy, stupid — they're the most God-awful people." He even compared the litigation he had to go through to the Indochina War when he spoke about it with The Guardian.
He went on a homophobic Twitter rant against a journalist
When Daily Mail reporter George Stark wrote that Hilaria Baldwin had been tweeting during actor James Gandolfini's funeral in 2013, Alec Baldwin was furious, and he took to Twitter to let Stark have it. He referred to Stark as a "toxic little queen" and added that he would "put my foot up your f***ing ass, George Stark, but I'm sure you'd dig it too much." He also told his followers to "straighten out this f***ing little bitch George Stark."
Alec later issued an apology through GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), which stated that his "ill-advised attack" was not about Stark's sexual orientation (via the Hollywood Reporter). He added that he is an advocate of the gay community and was angry at Stark for "blatantly lying" and "disseminating libelous" reporting about Hilaria.
He went on to tell Gothamist that his understanding of the word "queen" was not in a context related to someone's sexual orientation, stating that he believed a queen to be someone who thought themselves above the rules. He then turned his attention back to Stark and lamented about how anybody could be a journalist with the advent of social media.
The actor got kicked off a flight for being 'violent, abusive and aggressive'
Immersed in what must have been a rousing game of "Words with Friends," Alec Baldwin once refused to stop playing the game on an American Airlines flight in 2011. He released a series of tweets detailing his outrage against the airline, which Entertainment Weekly described as a "non-apology apology," before he took to HuffPost to further air his grievances. In a piece entitled "My Flying Lesson," Baldwin wrote of being made "an example of" by the airline.
Though he did begin by apologizing to his fellow passengers and asserting that the ticketing as well as the Admiral's Club staff had always been good to him, he then tore into the airline as a whole. He explained that the delayed flight was not prepared for take-off quite yet, so he took out his phone to finish any incomplete messages when a flight attendant "singled" him out. He compared her to a 1950s style gym teacher and said she spoke to him "in the most unpleasant of tones."
At the time, American Airlines issued a statement saying that Baldwin was ignoring FAA regulations and was "calling the crew inappropriate names." The airline explained they had him removed after he became "violent, abusive and aggressive," (via Entertainment Weekly). Despite his anger against the airline, however, the publication also noted that he was on another of their flights soon after the incident.
He got arrested over a parking dispute
In 2018, Alec Baldwin was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault and harassment after allegedly punching a man during a parking dispute in New York. At the time, Baldwin responded to the story of his arrest on Twitter by saying that the report was "false" (via USA Today). He also added that the articles talking about his arrest were "clickbait entertainment. ... Fortunately, no matter how reverberating the echoes, it doesn't make the statements true."
Baldwin allegedly punched a man for taking a parking spot the actor had his eye on. The incident happened near Baldwin's home in Greenwich Village. According to USA Today, although the man was taken to the hospital, he was in "stable condition."
The actor eventually pleaded guilty to harassment and agreed to take an anger management course after striking a deal with prosecutors over the assault charges, per The New York Times. The publication reported that he spoke only enough to agree to the deal and that prosecutors let him plead to just the harassment charge and not misdemeanor assault. Baldwin did admit to shoving Wojciech Cieszkowski — the other man involved in the altercation — though maintained his innocence in regards to punching him.
Alec Baldwin punched a cameraman in front of his wife and newborn daughter
When Kim Basinger and her then-husband, Alec Baldwin, were returning home with their newborn daughter, Ireland, in October 1995, they wanted some privacy. So when Baldwin spotted a cameraman trying to videotape their actions, he allegedly punched him, according to the Los Angeles Times. Lt. Ray Lombardo of the LAPD told the publication at the time that Baldwin approached videographer Alan Zanger and said, "I don't mind if you film me, but I don't want you filming the baby." After that, the two ended up in an argument and Baldwin allegedly punched Zanger in the face, possibly breaking his nose. At that point, Zanger put Baldwin into citizen's arrest.
At the time, Baldwin told the Los Angeles Times, "There were no witnesses to this and therefore the police refused to make an arrest. Mr. Zanger then made a citizen's arrest. I'm sorry for any problems caused and I look forward to Mr. Zanger and I putting this behind us." He also told the publication that he wanted to protect his 3-day-old daughter from the paparazzi.
Though that altercation was the first time Baldwin had a run-in with paparazzi, it wouldn't be his last. USA Today reported that Baldwin has either pushed and/or screamed at the paparazzi on three additional occasions, in 2012, 2013, and again in 2016.
He got 'belligerent' with female officers after riding his bike the wrong way down a street
In 2014, two female police officers stopped Alec Baldwin after they saw him riding his bike against traffic in New York City. CBS reported that Baldwin couldn't give the officers a photo I.D., so they handcuffed him, loaded him and his bicycle into a patrol car, and took him to the 13th Precinct. Police said Baldwin was "belligerent" and had been insulting the two officers. A witness told CBS that, while he didn't hear Baldwin say anything, he did see the arrest.
The witness told the outlet: "He looked kind of disheveled and kind of annoyed. He was straddling his bike. And as I was coming around the corner, I could see one of the female officers grabbing his arms and pulling the handcuffs on him." Following the incident, Baldwin took to Twitter and posted the badge number of the officer who arrested him.
According to CNN, Baldwin's tweets included a complaint that police didn't intervene when photographers "terrified" his daughter outside their home. He also said New York City was a "mismanaged carnival of stupidity that is desperate for revenue and anxious to criminalize behavior once thought benign."
Alec Baldwin compared Dylan Farrow to Mayella Ewell from 'To Kill a Mockingbird'
Alec Baldwin has pushed back against Dylan Farrow and her accusations of abuse from her adopted father, Woody Allen, multiple times. Baldwin has worked with Allen and has been a staunch supporter of the controversial director. Though the actor has always been upfront about his feelings about Farrow, in 2018, he took his beliefs about her to the next level, taking to Twitter to express his thoughts. Per Vanity Fair, Baldwin compared her to Mayella Ewell, the white woman who falsely accused Tom Robinson, a Black man, of rape in "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Farrow responded to Baldwin's comparison in The Hollywood Reporter, saying it was "interesting" he would ignore the decisions of Justice Wilk and Prosecutor Frank Maco, who actually saw the evidence of her assault. She also added a literary detail to her response: "Considering that Mr. Baldwin confidently invoked Mayella Ewell to make his point while forgetting that it's been hotly debated that she was, in fact, raped by her father, demonstrates that perhaps Baldwin is just not a stickler for details."
Vanity Fair further noted that this incident was not the first time Baldwin had lashed out in support of a "former collaborator implicated in the #MeToo movement." Instead of standing with the over 200 women who accused filmmaker James Toback of sexual harassment, he went after Decider writer Kayla Cobb, who had spoken about her problems with Toback in "Seduced and Abandoned."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
He once said a U.S. congressman should be 'stoned to death'
During the impeachment process of former President Bill Clinton in 1998, Alec Baldwin made a not-so-funny remark about one of the United States congressmen involved in the proceedings on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," per HuffPost. Baldwin said that if the congressman, Henry Hyde, lived in any other country, he would be stoned to death and people would go after his family (via Variety). For context, Henry Hyde was a Republican from Illinois and chair of the House Judiciary committee, which sent the articles of impeachment forward.
However, members of Congress didn't find Baldwin's remark funny at all, and brought in MPAA's Jack Valenti to respond to the comment, since it was made on television.
According to Variety, Valenti said at the time that he would either be calling Baldwin or writing a note to him to relay "to my dismay and sorrow" that the actor's remark was out of line. He added that the tangent was "so off base as to boggle the mind." While Balwin's representative at the time insisted that the actor was just messing around, Variety also noted that Baldwin wrote an apology to Hyde and his family for what he said.