Alec Baldwin has broken the social media silence he self-imposed following the tragic shooting on the set of Rust to share a Christmas video wherein he can be seen thanking followers for their support and encouraging them to both wear facial masks and get COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.
“I wanted to take a moment to say thank you to all of the people who sent me such kind words and, you know, best wishes and strength and hope and prayers and so forth, and thoughts and lots of encouragement, and lots of really, really great sentiments from so many people,” said the actor in an Instagram video.
He continued, “I got hundreds, hundreds of emails from friends and family, and colleagues and people that I haven’t heard from in quite a while to send me strength and good wishes and so forth, and I’m really grateful for that. I want to say thank you to everybody for that.”
Baldwin then mentioned that he’s grateful for all of the support he’s received on social media, specifically from those who have left positive comments on his Instagram account, before addressing the tragic on-set shooting that resulted in the death of Rust director of photography Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
“I’m looking forward to some aspects of [the on-set shooting] being behind me, of course, for everyone that’s involved in this it’s never going to be behind us because somebody died so tragically, ” asserted the actor.
He continued, “I never lose sight about that. Not a day goes by I don’t think about that. But I wanted to say thank you to all the people who sent me good wishes and sent me support. I’m very grateful for that, I feel very awkward.”
“Going through this has been very difficult and I want to say happy holidays, happy Hanukkah, merry Christmas, happy Kwanzaa, you know, you name it,” he then declared. “Whatever holiday you’re celebrating, happy holidays to everybody. I hope that you are as lucky as I am in one department, that is that you’re home with your family. I’m home with my family.”
In conclusion to his video, Baldwin admitted, “I don’t don’t have anything smart or original to say, just thank you to the people who sent me these great wishes,” and took some to virtue signal the usage of facial masks (because that’s what the spirit of the holidays is all about; coercion).
“Be safe, wear a mask, get the booster, and don’t let Santa Claus down the chimney without a mask,” said as his Christmas greeting drew to a close.
Baldwin is currently being sued by Rust script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, who claims that the film’s lead actor and producer “intentionally, without just cause or excuse, cocked and fired the loaded gun even though the upcoming scene to be filmed did not call for the cocking and firing of the firearm.”
The lawsuit also states that Baldwin “should have assumed that the gun in question was loaded unless and until it was demonstrated to him or checked by him that it was not loaded.”
“He had no right to rely upon some alleged statement by the Assistant Director that it was a ‘cold gun,’” the document explains. “[Baldwin] cannot hide behind the Assistant Director [David Halls] to attempt to excuse the fact that he did not check the gun himself.”
Further, in a now-notorious interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos, Baldwin claimed that he cocked the gun, declaring, “So I take the gun and I start to cock the gun. I’m not going to pull the trigger. I said, ‘Do you see this?’ She says, ‘Well, just cheat it down and tilt it down a little bit like that.’”
“And I cock the gun and I go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?’” Baldwin recalled. “And she says…and I let go of the hammer of the gun and the gun goes off. I let go of the hammer of the gun and the gun goes off.”
However, later in the interview, the actor contradicted this claim when he reassured Stephanopoulos that he didn’t cock the gun, but rather pulled “the hammer as far back as I could without cocking the actual [gun].”
Making matters worse for himself, when asked by Stephanopoulos whether or not he felt guilt, Baldwin asserted that he doesn’t feel responsible for shooting and killing Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.
“Someone is responsible for what happened and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me,” he declared.
What’s more, Baldwin also explained that he wasn’t worried about being criminally charged, stating, “I’ve been told by people who are in the know…that it’s highly unlikely that I would be charged with anything criminally.”
However, following the actor’s interview with ABC News, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said that this was not the case at all, as she clarified that Baldwin and everyone involved in the handling of the loaded gun that killed Hutchins could very much be criminally charged.
“Everyone involved in the handling and use of firearms on the set had a duty to behave in a manner such that the safety of others was protected, and it appears that certain actions and inactions contributed to this outcome,” Carmack-Altwies told Deadline.
The Santa Fe DA explained that “certain individuals may be criminally culpable for his/her actions and/or inactions on the set of Rust,” adding that she intends to “exercise my prosecutorial discretion to its fullest, including filing charges that are supported by probable cause,” as her office juggles “various legal theories at the time.”
“As the First Judicial District Attorney,” continued Carmack-Altwies, “I have not made a decision to charge or not charge any individuals involved in the shooting that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins and injury of Joel Souza.”
Conversely, Hutchins’ father, Anatoly Androsovych, believes that Baldwin is at least partially responsible for the killing of his daughter.
Interestingly, he told The Sun a few weeks ago that he didn’t hold the actor responsible in the wake of the tragic incident and implied that the actor’s erratic behaviour has made him reconsider his initial reaction.
“I can’t understand the behaviour of Alec,” said Androsovych. “Why did he sweep out his tweets when it became clear the shooting was on rehearsal?”
Hutchins’ father also wondered why Baldwin fired the shot in between scenes.
“The revolver is the type of gun which doesn’t shoot before the trigger is pressed and Alec is partially guilty for causing that shot,” he added.”It is clear to me Baldwin fired the shot from his hand so it’s hard for me to understand how he cannot be held partly responsible for my daughter’s death.
What do you make of Alec Baldwin’s rather tone-deaf Christmas video? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section down below or on social media.