Alec Baldwin Says He Owes Wife Hilaria 'Everything' for Her Support During “Rust ”Trial: 'She Suffered Tremendously'
The actor told David Duchovny on the latter's 'Fail Better' podcast that his wife 'was frustrated' and 'in pain' during his legal battle
Alec Baldwin is reflecting on his gratitude for wife Hilaria Baldwin in the aftermath of the 2021 Rust incident, which resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
On the newest episode of the Fail Better with David Duchovny podcast, Alec, 66, said of Hilaria, 40, "I owe my wife everything."
"She is the most spiritually ascended human being I've ever met, and she was kind to me and supportive of me," he explained. "She was frustrated. She was in pain. She suffered tremendously."
"You're a guy, you fall in love with somebody, and you're like, 'What can I do to make my wife safe?' And I couldn't do anything to stop what was happening to me," the actor added.
Alec was holding a prop gun on the New Mexico set of the Western in 2021 when it accidentally discharged, killing 42-year-old cinematographer Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
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Alec, who has maintained that he did not pull the trigger or know why the gun contained live ammunition, was charged with manslaughter and stood trial in July.
But the judge dismissed the case against him on the third day of proceedings after learning that the prosecution withheld evidence from the defense.
On the podcast, Alec told David Duchovny, "The judge canceled the case. She ruled that it was dismissed with prejudice, which I'm very grateful for ... it was, I think, a very informed decision on her part. But if I'd gone all the way and gotten a verdict, that's a little bit better, 'cause a bunch of people in the jury [would've] considered the facts and we would've presented so much more."
"So for me, I'm gonna take a break. I don't wanna talk about this for a while. I wanna kind of like, you know, take a nap," Alec added.
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Alec spoke to Variety in an interview published Nov. 25, where he called the ordeal around Rust “the most difficult thing I’ve ever dealt with.”
“Beyond the victims themselves, the thing that most pains me is what it did to my wife. My wife has been very, very traumatized from this,” he said.
The actor shares daughters Carmen, 11, María, 3, and Ilaria, 2, plus sons Rafael, 9, Leonardo, 8, Romeo, 6, and Eduardo, 4, with Hilaria. He's also dad to daughter Ireland, 29, with ex Kim Basinger.
“There has been a lot of pain," Alec added to Variety. "When you are married to somebody and everything was going fairly well and we had seven kids … and the floor falls out. It’s very frightening and very disturbing.”
“And we are trying to get the wind in our sails, to get away from this stuff. Because the film doesn’t stand by itself. It’s always going to be overshadowed by this,” he said.
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