Hilaria Baldwin calls out 'destructive' paparazzi in wake of 'Rust' shooting
Hilaria Baldwin is speaking out about "destructive" paparazzi in the wake of the Rust shooting.
As the investigation continues into what led up to the movie's star, Alec Baldwin, fatally shooting the director of photography Halyna Hutchins with what was thought to be an unloaded prop gun, photographers have been trailing the actor and his family throughout the Northeast. Hilaria, 37, shared a glimpse of that intrusion — a video of a paparazzo asking a presumably off-camera Alec, 63, how he felt about killing someone — and saying it "destroys mental health."
The yoga instructor wrote in her Instagram Stories, "I know speaking up" about being hounded by the paparazzi "makes me a bigger target to invalidate, mock, twist ... destroy." However, she will "rather than sit in silence, not pointing out how it just feels so awful. How much it destroys mental health [and] rocks the nervous system on such a destructive level."
Of commentary that celebrities shouldn't complain about paparazzi because it "comes with the territory" or they "somehow 'signed up for this'" or "deserve it," she said: "I don't remember signing that contract."
She went on to say, "So many lives have been taken this way. Look at history. Look around you now. So much mental health destroyed. So much addiction, depression, suicide."
The mom of six said she will do her best to protect her family, writing, "Come at me again and again and I'll do my best to stand up time and time again... I will protect my family... until I'm dead."
A post with it was a video of what appeared to be an NYC sidewalk and several paparazzi looming. One was holding a video camera fixed presumably on the Baldwins while asking provoking questions about the shooting. Paparazzi are known to do this to elicit reactive responses from celebrities, making for a more lucrative video or image because the celebrity becomes upset.
The paparazzo said in the clip, "How [do] you feel [about] kill[ing] somebody by accident? How you feel [about] that? How you feeling?"
A female voice, presumably Hilaria's, is heard repeating, "Don't say. Don't say," as if reminding presumably Alec not to engage with the cameraman.
In another post, Hilaria urged people who see paparazzi photos that are "not OK" to speak out to the media outlets buying them and running them in magazines or posting them online. The media outlets are keeping the paparazzi "'business' alive," she wrote.
The Rust tragedy took place on Oct. 21 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Production was immediately halted amid an investigation into the shooting, so Alec — also a producer on the film — flew back to the East Coast to be with this family amid the tragedy. Hilaria said she left their NYC home (they also have a home in Long Island, N.Y.) and drove with their kids to Manchester, Vt., where they rented a home and Alec joined them.
The couple had been trailed by paparazzi there and pulled over in their car to give an impromptu interview just days after Hutchins's. Alec, who has been cooperating with investigators, talked about the loss of his "friend," Hutchins.
Hilaria later said they did that in hopes the paparazzi would give them a little space, but they didn't. She later complained about being followed in an unsafe manner while driving.
Hilaria also said on social media that she worries about Alec, whom she married in 2012, suffering from PTSD.
On Wednesday, the first lawsuit over the Rust shooting was filed by the film's gaffer, Serge Svetnoy. His complaint alleges general negligence against the production, the financiers, Alec, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, first assistant director David Halls and others.
Earlier this week, Alec wrote on Instagram that "every film/TV set that uses guns, fake or otherwise, should have a police officer on the set" to "monitor weapon safety."
