Alec Baldwin’s Biggest Scandals and Controversial Moments Through the Years: ‘Rust’ Shooting and More

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Alec Baldwin’s Biggest Scandals and Controversial Moments Through the Years: ‘Rust’ Shooting and More

Alec Baldwin has had his fair share of scandals over the course of his life in the public eye. From two arrests to the infamous voicemail he left his daughter Ireland Baldwin, the 30 Rock alum has often made headlines for his controversial behavior — and perhaps never more serious than when he was involved in the fatal shooting on the set of Rust. On October 21, 2021, Alec was holding a prop gun when it discharged on the set of his film Rust. The film’s director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, was killed. Alec maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in January 2024. The charges were later dismissed in July 2024. Scroll down to revisit all of Alec's biggest scandals and controversies through the years:

Credit: MediaPunch/Shutterstock

Alec Baldwin’s Biggest Scandals and Controversial Moments Through the Years: ‘Rust’ Shooting and More

Alec Baldwin has had his fair share of scandals over the course of his life in the public eye. From two arrests to the infamous voicemail he left his daughter Ireland Baldwin, the 30 Rock alum has often made headlines for his controversial behavior — and perhaps never more serious than when he was involved in the fatal shooting on the set of Rust. On October 21, 2021, Alec was holding a prop gun when it discharged on the set of his film Rust. The film’s director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, was killed. Alec maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter in January 2024. The charges were later dismissed in July 2024. Scroll down to revisit all of Alec's biggest scandals and controversies through the years:

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Scuffle With Paparazzi

In 1995, Alec was arrested after he allegedly punched photographer Alan Zanger outside of his California home. The incident took place as the actor and his then-wife, Basinger, were bringing their newborn daughter Ireland home from the hospital.

Though the Saturday Night Live regular was acquitted of misdemeanor battery charges, he lost a civil case against Zanger and was ordered to pay the photographer $4,500 in damages.

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Leaked Angry Voicemail

A voicemail that the eldest Baldwin brother left for his daughter Ireland when she was 11 years old leaked online in 2007. In the voicemail, Alec calls his oldest daughter a “rude, thoughtless little pig” for not answering a scheduled phone call and said she had “humiliated [him] for the last time.”

“I’m sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child,” the actor wrote in a statement via his website at the time. “I have been driven to the edgy by parental alienation for many years now. You have to go through this to understand. (Although I hope you never do). I am sorry for what happened,” he wrote.

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Removal from American Airlines Flight

In 2011, Alec was kicked off an American Airlines flight after he refused to turn off his cell phone when crew members asked him to.

The actor shared via Twitter that he had been playing Words With Friends when the incident occurred. “Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt,” he wrote. “But, oddly, 30 Rock plays inflight on American. #theresalwaysunited.”

A statement posted to the American Airlines Facebook page read, ”The passenger was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language.”

After his removal from the plane, Alec continued his journey on a later American Airlines flight. “Now on the 3 o’clock American flight. The flight attendants already look … smarter,” he tweeted at the time.

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Use of Homophobic Slur

In November 2013, TMZ caught Alec on video using a homophobic slur during an argument with a photographer.

“I apologize and will retire it [the slur] from my vocabulary,” he wrote via Twitter. His MSNBC interview show, Up Late, was canceled less than two weeks later. Only five episodes of the episode had aired up to that point.

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Arrested After Riding Bike the Wrong Way

In 2014, police officers stopped the actor for riding his bicycle in the wrong direction down a one way street in New York City. He was arrested, placed in handcuffs and charged with disorderly conduct after failing to cooperate with the officers. “He got belligerent and began arguing with the officers,” Detective Annette Markowski told TIME.

Alec posted about the incident on Twitter, writing that New York officials were “desperate for revenue and anxious to criminalize behavior once thought benign.”

The Before You Know It actor was cleared of the charges after a July 2014 court appearance.

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Parking Lot Argument

In November 2018, the It’s Complicated actor allegedly got into an argument with a man named Wojciech Cieszkowski over a parking spot outside his apartment. Cieszkowski claimed that the actor punched him, leading to Alec’s arrest.

The Motherless Brooklyn actor sued Cieszkowski in 2019, accusing him of lying about the incident. In January 2022, the two men settled their claims against each other. The terms of the deal were not made public.

“When two New Yorkers get into an argument over a parking space, typically what happens is they exchange a few sharp words and then move on with their lives. But that is not what happened here. Cieszkowski has instead made up a false story about the encounter,” Alec’s attorney, Luke Nikas, wrote in the lawsuit.

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'Rust' Shooting Incident

On October 21, 2021, Alec was holding a prop gun when it discharged on the set of his film, Rust. 

Alec allegedly accidentally fired a prop gun on the set of his movie Rust, injuring the film’s director, Joel Souza, and killing director of photography, Hutchins. According to The New York Times, the assistant director called out “cold gun” before handing Alec the weapon, meaning it was not loaded. Detective Joel Cano declared in an affidavit that the assistant director “did not know live rounds were in the prop gun.”

Alec reacted to the tragic accident on October 15, 2021, via Twitter. “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halnya Hutchins, a wife, mother, and deeply admired colleague of ours. I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halnya,” he wrote.

In a December 2021 primetime ABC special, Alec claimed that he hadn’t pulled the trigger of the gun. “The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them” he said. “Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property. Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”

Hutchins’ husband, Matt Hutchins, reacted to Alec not taking responsibility for the tragedy during a February 2022 appearance on Today.

“Watching him [in the ABC special], I just felt so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way, and then not accept any of the responsibility, after having just described killing her,” Matt said.

When Hoda Kotb asked Kim if he felt the “majority” of the blame was Alec’s, he replied, “The idea that the person holding the gun causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me.”

In January 2023, New Mexico prosecutors charged Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter after a lengthy investigation. The actor's lawyer, Luke Nikas, promised that his client plans to fight the charges. "This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice," the attorney said in a statement at the time. "Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win."

The initial charges were dropped in April 2023, but the actor was charged a second time in January 2024. He pleaded not guilty. Alec’s trial began in July 2024, but his charges were dismissed with prejudice after three days due to the judge finding that prosecutors hid evidence linked to the shooting. 

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Car Accident Lawsuit

According to legal documents obtained by Us on March 10, 2023, the actor is being sued for negligence, personal injury and damage for an alleged car accident that took place in Malibu in March 2021. The plaintiff, Ahmed Mustafa, claimed that Alec “impatiently sped up and attempted to get in front” of him, despite not having the right of way on the road. The documents state that Mustafa is suing the star for an unknown amount over $25 thousand.

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Cell Phone Squabble

In April 2024, Baldwin was caught on camera slapping the cell phone of a heckler who asked him to address the death of Hutchins as well as the war in Gaza. “Alec, can you please say ‘Free Palestine’ one time?” asked the heckler in a video shared via X. “Why did you kill that lady? You killed that lady and got no jail time? No jail time, Alec? No jail time, Alec. You’re putting innocent people in jail, Alec Baldwin. ‘Free Palestine,’ Alec, just one time, and I’ll leave you alone.”

After an employee at the coffee shop attempted to escort the heckler out of the café, Baldwin held the door open and motioned for the person to leave. He then asked someone off camera, “Can you do me one quick favor?” before slapping the phone.