In a rather expected unfolding of events, Alec Baldwin has reportedly settled a $25 million defamation lawsuit filed by the family of Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, who lost his life during the Biden administration’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
According to information gathered by independent reporter Emily Miller, Dennis Postiglione, the attorney representing McCollum family, did not proceed to file a legal response that was due by the 12th of September — thus putting a permanent halt on the case against Baldwin.
“My clients are happy that this matter is over,” Postiglione told Miller, adding, “They look forward to moving on— without Alec Baldwin in their lives.”
Miller notes that it is possible the settlement reached by the McCollums and Baldwin stipulated that both parties remain silent about the agreement. The reporter also mentions that the slain Marine’s sisters, Cheyenne and Roice, as well as his widow Jiennah, confirmed that they can’t talk about the case.
It is not known whether Baldwin compensated the McCollum family to come to a legal agreement. Miller also noted that Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikas, did not respond to her questions regarding this particular point.
As previously mentioned, the McCollum family had planned to refile the lawsuit against Baldwin in August of this year. On behalf of Lance Cpl. McCollum’s sisters and widow, Postiglione addressed Manhattan Judge Edgardo Ramos’ dismissal of the legal document filed by the family.
“Without getting into specifics, we disagree with the analysis by the Court but believe an amended Complaint will address the issues presented,” Postiglione wrote in an email obtained by the Associated Press.
AP News reported, “In tossing out the original lawsuit, Ramos made various conclusions in Baldwin’s favor, including that his comments were protected by the First Amendment, that actual malice was not sufficiently alleged and that private messages, comments and social media posts did not support defamation claims.”
While Ramos did dismiss the McCollums’ legal suit, the outlet reports that the Manhattan judge also encouraged them to refile the document in order to “correct deficiencies and renew claims of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
In January of 2022, Baldwin was hit with the $25 million defamation lawsuit after accusing that McCollum’s sister Roice had participated in the Capitol Hill riots on January 6th of 2021.
At the time, the actor shared a post to his Instagram, revealing that he had reached out Roice to give her the sum of $5,000 with the instruction to give the cheque to the Marine’s widow and help her with her newborn daughter.
“There’s an interesting story here,” Baldwin prefaced as he reposted Roice’s original post. “So, I read in The Times, I believe, the story about the soldiers that died at the Kabul airport. I did some research. I found, on IG, that this woman is the [sister] of one of the men who was killed.”
“I offered to send her sister-in-law some $ as a tribute to her late brother, his widow and their child. Which I did. As a tribute to a fallen soldier,” the actor added, before shamelessly concluding, “Then I find this. Truth is stranger than fiction.”
The legal document filed against Baldwin sought the sum of $25 million in compensation for defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence, and intentional distress that came from the actor’s interaction with the sister of the fallen Marine.
“Get raped and die, worthless c— [kiss emoji]. Your brother got what he deserved,” read one of the handful of hateful comments Roice allegedly received following after Baldwin shared her post to his then-2.4 million Instagram followers.
The defamation lawsuit alleged, “Baldwin’s conduct was negligent and reckless as he should have known that making the allegations he did against plaintiffs to his millions of followers would cause plaintiffs harm.”
“Baldwin’s comments were false, outrageous, defamatory, irresponsible, vindictive and caused – and continue to cause — plaintiffs severe emotional distress,” it elaborated. “Instead of being able to focus on grieving LCPL McCollum’s death and raising his newborn daughter, plaintiffs and their family are now fearful for their lives.”
What’s more, the document also declared that the FBI had cleared Roice of wrongdoing at the Capitol Hill protests, further noting that she “did not take part in, nor did she support or condone the rioting that erupted.”