Alec Baldwin’s Biggest Scandals, Most Controversial Moments Through the Years: ‘Rust’ Shooting, Arrests 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. Baldwin claimed he was not responsible for the incident, as he had been told the gun was not loaded. He also alleged that he hadn’t pulled the trigger. In January 2023, New Mexico prosecutors announced that Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of the cinematographer.

Alec once again made headlines in April 2022 when Ireland and her mother — his ex-wife, Kim Basinger — opened up on Red Table Talk about the “challenges” they’ve faced with the Glengarry Glen Ross actor over the years.

“You know we’re all fine, we all get along whatever. But he’s a challenge. We’ve had our challenges,” Basinger said of her ex-husband, who once called their then-11-year-old daughter a "pig" in a voicemail. While discussing Ireland's battle with mental health, the L.A. Confidential actress said, “I don’t think Alec was emotionally or mentally available for that kind of talk. Alec operates in a very different way in his life.”

Ireland told the show’s host Jada Pinkett Smith that she believes her father suffers from anxiety, calling him “someone who grew up in a family that would suppress that [anxiety] as well or tell him he’s weak for feeling that way.”

The model continued, “There’s things I would go to my father for, but if I ever even try to have this [mental health] conversation in any way with him, I don’t think he would be able to really absorb any of it.”

Alec and Basinger went through a contentious custody battle after their divorce. “Divorce is hard on a kid,” the Beetlejuice actor told The Edit in 2016. “Ours was very public and nasty. I just wanted her [Ireland] to be free. If she wanted to have her friends over and write on the walls with pen, that was fine. I wanted her childhood to be full of love and light and animals and friends.”

The Departed actor married his current wife, Hilaria Baldwin, in 2012. The couple has seven children together — Carmela, born in 2013, Rafael, born in 2015, Leonardo, born in 2016, Romeo, born in 2018, Eduardo, born in 2020, Lucia, born in 2021 and Ilaria, born in 2020.

Ireland addressed her father’s latest baby announcement via Instagram in April 2022. “I get countless messages from people who are alarmingly obsessed with my father and his family,” she wrote. “I think a lot of people assume my take on any of this, well here it is for free — it’s none of my business … I don’t care. I smoke weed, I eat good food, and I mind MY own business.”

Scroll down to revisit all of Alec's biggest scandals and controversies through the years: