Hilaria Baldwin says paparazzo made lewd gesture at her in front of 8-year-old daughter: 'All this... for a photo'
Hilaria Baldwin is speaking out after an extremely unpleasant encounter with a paparazzo.
The Living Clearly Method author, who's pregnant with her seventh child with Alec Baldwin, used social media to detail the incident, which took place Sunday morning. She said that the photog took unauthorized photos of her and her 8-year-old daughter, Carmen, and made a "sexually inappropriate gesture" at Hilaria in front of the child.
"We had a day," Hilaria wrote in her Instagram Stories. "I needed to emotionally come down from a pap ... who took pics of us and then made a sexually inappropriate gesture to me in front of my 8 year old. I finished our a.m. errands and went home to ... process it with her."
Hilaria said initially, while "SUPER ANGRY," her plan was to blast the person's license plate and his physical description. She was very shaken up by the indecency, saying "it made me cry." However, the former yoga instructor said she calmed down during the day and decided not to "shame him," but made it clear that damage was done.
"I feel like a little bit of Carmen's innocence was taken today," Hilaria wrote. "And all this... for a photo."
She criticized the paparazzi business, which sells candid photos of celebrities to news outlets and tabloids.
"You wouldn't want that to happen in front of your kid, and I don't either," she said.
Hilaria later posted a photo she took of herself with Carmen after returning from their errands — and the nasty encounter.
"FYI: This is what we were wearing this a.m.... and holding... in case this is some wild news needing to be seen," she wrote.
Paparazzi have long used the tactic of riling up their subjects with provocative questions or comments in hopes of eliciting dramatic reactions. Celebrities appearing angry or upset in photos make the images sell for more money.
Alec has long been a paparazzi target, due to various outbursts and drama through his decades in the spotlight. His marriage to Hilaria only seemed to magnify it with their adorable brood growing and growing — soon to seven. (Alec is also dad to Ireland Baldwin from his marriage to Kim Basinger.)
The unwanted attention amplified after the Rust shooting in October. Alec, star of the western, was holding a gun that discharged on the New Mexico film set, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
Alec, also a producer on Rust, has maintained the shooting was not his fault. The investigation into the tragedy continues with Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza saying last month that nobody "is off the hook." He said key evidence remains outstanding, including the FBI analysis of the firearm, ammunition and projectile, DNA and latent fingerprint analysis, the coroner's findings and analysis of Alec's phone data.
The New Mexico state government fined the production $136,793 for safety violations, saying Rust producers demonstrated a "plain indifference" to the welfare of the cast and crew. Alec faces several lawsuits over the shooting, including one filed by Hutchins's husband.
Alec continues to work. It was announced that he and fellow Rust producer Anjul Nigam started a new production company, Persona Entertainment, and they will bring a film, False Awakening, to the Cannes market. Alec also appears in the film as a psychologist trying to help the main character navigate sleepwalking episodes that are interfering with his life.
Nigam also said that when the Rust investigation concludes, he expects production to resume and the film to be completed: "We're confident we’ll be able to complete the movie."
