Hilaria Baldwin pleads with paparazzi to 'leave my family in peace' following news that husband Alec will be charged in 'Rust' shooting
A day after prosecutors said they plan to file charges against Alec Baldwin in the death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the actor's wife, Hilaria, was photographed in New York City.
She wore a sweatshirt that read "empathy," as she stopped to talk to the many photographers who surrounded her. They yelled questions at her, as the paparazzo often do, but she dismissed them. "I'm gonna tell you what I'm going to say," she said in footage the Associated Press posted on TikTok. "You're not gonna ask me questions. I'm gonna tell you, OK?"
Baldwin then said that she wanted them to realize the couple have seven children and the media presence as the kids go between school and home is "not good."
"So on a human level, you guys know I'm not gonna say anything to you. You know that," she continued. "So, please, leave my family in peace and let this all play out. OK? So let my kids come home and you stay away from them. Because they ask me, 'Mommy... what are these people doing?' And it's a very hard thing as a mom to try to explain. So please, go home, 'cause I'm not gonna say anything and Alec is not going to say anything."
At that moment, someone interrupted her to ask about the charges.
On Thursday, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced that she would formally charge the Beetlejuice actor with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins's October 2021 death on the set of the film. Baldwin, a producer and star of the Western, was holding a gun that discharged during rehearsals, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
While Baldwin has maintained that he hadn't pulled the trigger on the gun before it fired, an FBI report released in August determined that the gun could not have fired without someone pulling the trigger. He also noted that he was told the gun was "cold," meaning it did not contain live ammunition, and that he was pointing it where he had been directed.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was tasked with handling guns on the set, will also be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Assistant director David Halls has agreed to enter a guilty plea on a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.
The New York Times reported Friday that, despite the tragedy, the actor planned to complete the unfinished film.
The Baldwins married in 2012 and they share seven children — Carmen, Rafael, Leonardo, Romeo, Eduardo, Maria and Ilaria — all under 10.