According to Hilaria, 41, her husband has carried deep survivor’s guilt ever since.
Baldwin has reportedly maintained that he did not pull the trigger. (Photo Credits: Instagram)
Alec Baldwin’s wife, Hilaria, recently opened up about the immense emotional toll the Rust shooting took on her husband. She revealed that the day after the fatal accident, he sent her a message that shook her to the core. “I found these text messages the other day between us, you know, the day after. And Alec said he wanted to kill himself,” Hilaria shared. Baldwin, 66, had been rehearsing for the Western film in New Mexico when a prop gun he was holding accidentally discharged. The incident claimed the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
Baldwin has reportedly maintained that he did not pull the trigger and was unaware the gun contained live ammunition. According to Hilaria, 41, her husband has carried deep survivor’s guilt ever since. “You’re involved in this thing that nobody could even possibly imagine. And so he goes back to that day, he wishes it were him. He would change places with Hutchins in a second,” she said in a confessional in episode 2 of their TLC reality show, The Baldwins.
The Baldwin family’s new reality series, which debuted on February 23, offers an intimate look into their lives in New York City with their seven children. Alec also shares a daughter Ireland with ex-wife Kim Basinger. The show delves into the emotional and physical toll the accident and legal battle took on the actor.
“He’ll never be the same. This has affected his health and his mental health tremendously. In the past few years, he has started having heart problems. He’s been hospitalised multiple times,” Hilaria admitted.
She recalled a terrifying moment when Alec fainted, leaving her desperately trying to wake him. “I was shaking him. It’s hard sometimes. But, you know, hopefully, we’re in the hardest but the tail end of it,” she said.
According to People, following the dismissal of his involuntary manslaughter case last July, Baldwin has been fighting back. Last March, the film’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Meanwhile, Baldwin filed a lawsuit against prosecutors, investigators and others, accusing them of ‘malicious abuse of process, intentional spoliation of evidence, defamation and violation of the New Mexico Civil Rights Act.’ His suit argues that authorities “sought at every turn to scapegoat Baldwin for the acts and omissions of others, regardless of the evidence or the law.”
In a recent interview with People, Baldwin reflected on the emotional burden he carried in silence. “I had to stuff feelings down because I had seven kids. I couldn’t really go in the other room and cry or whatever.” But now, he added, “the emotion is really kind of washing up on me,” he admitted.
