Alec Baldwin details parking dispute that led to his arrest: 'I thought he was going to run my wife over'

Alec Baldwin is speaking out about his NYC parking spot spat.

After pleading guilty late last month to harassment in the second degree and agreeing to a short-term anger management program, the actor addressed the Nov. 2 incident on Monday’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show. He claimed the altercation began after Wojciech Cieszkowski, 49, almost hit his wife, Hilaria, with his car while he was “stealing” Baldwin’s parking spot on a public street.

When DeGeneres gave him the Baldwin the opportunity to clear up the headline-making incident, he started by joking, “I punched a nun. I pulled her out of her car and…” He eventually did tell his side, saying, “Did I have an argument with a guy? Yeah. I thought he was going to run my wife over with his car when he was stealing my parking spot.”

Alec Baldwin, left, in Manhattan Criminal Court on Jan. 23 to plead guilty to second-degree harassment related to an altercation he had with another man over a public parking space in November. (Photo: Alec Tabak-Pool/Getty Images)
Alec Baldwin, left, in Manhattan Criminal Court on Jan. 23 to plead guilty to second-degree harassment related to an altercation he had with another man over a public parking space in November. (Photo: Alec Tabak-Pool/Getty Images)

Baldwin, a father of five, said that the thing that bothers him most about the headlines is that it was initially reported that he punched Cieszkowski. He insisted that he didn’t it — and said the footage was on his side.

“What’s interesting is that in New York … there’s cameras everywhere. One of the things that upset me was that somebody punched a guy in New York and killed him… This famous rugby player,” he said, likely referring to the death of Irish rugby player John “Danny” McGee in late November. “So they said I punched this guy, which was not true. The cameras show from every angle that no one punched anybody. But once that story is out there … the DA never gets out there after the fact and says, ya know, ‘Mr. Baldwin is such a great guy. He would never do a thing [like that].'” he said with a laugh.

As for his relationship with Cieszkowski, he went on to joke, “Now he and I are best friends” before quickly adding, “I’m kidding.”

Baldwin’s temper is well-documented. There have been several other headline-making incidents: the infamous voicemail messages for his then-young daughter Ireland, being kicked off an American Airlines flight for refusing to turn off his cell phone, fights with paparazzi and an arrest for riding his bike the wrong way on Fifth Avenue in New York City, which led to a disorderly conduct citation.

During the Ellen segment, Baldwin revealed that he had some outbursts on the set of BlacKkKlansman when he couldn’t remember his lines — and they were turned into entertainment.

“I would swear. I would scream I would say horrible words,” he recalled. Unbeknownst to him, director Spike Lee used some of those outtakes as actual footage in the film for Baldwin’s white supremacist character. “Six months later, my friend calls me and says, ‘I saw Spike’s movie and that whole Tourette’s thing you’re doing in the movie is fantastic.’ I said, ‘What did you say?’ He said, ‘The thing where you’re screaming your head off.’ He used the outtakes in the movie.” DeGeneres said it was smart of Lee to keep it because it made Baldwin’s character “even more insane.”

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