In a post shared hours after his interview about the tragic Rust shooting aired, Alec Baldwin thanked his wife for sticking by him through “tough times.”
In an interview, Baldwin described the events that led to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his film in New Mexico on October 21, after the actor was given a gun.
During the emotional hour-long special, Baldwin claimed that the gun he was holding—which he had no idea contained live rounds—fired without him pulling the trigger, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
Hours after the interview aired on Thursday, Baldwin took to Instagram to thank his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, for giving him “a reason to live.”
“No matter what happens to me. No matter what I suffer. If I win or lose, anything. Anything. No one can take away from me the joy and love you have given me. These are tough times. The world is choked with fumes of hate. But you have given me a reason to live. Our life with our family is all I care about. Nothing else. I owe that to you,” he wrote alongside a photo of himself holding one of his six children with his wife of nine years.
Days after the tragic shooting, the star’s wife expressed her condolences on Instagram, writing, “My heart is with Halyna. Her husband. Her son. Their family and loved one. And my Alec.”
In a blog post, the yoga instructor and podcaster also discussed how the incident had affected life at home with the couple’s young children.
“Recently, I’ve had to have some conversations with my oldest children, explaining recent events,” she wrote on Wednesday. “You can imagine how difficult it has been. I want to thank The Child Mind Institute for guiding me. “I’m grateful to Anne, my friend, for encouraging me to contact them.” Sometimes I just freeze, knowing I’m the adult who needs to guide my family but having no idea where to start. There is no manual provided to us. Sometimes I catch myself, surprised that I’m an adult, and I think to myself, “Shouldn’t I know what to do?”
She continued, saying: “You have no idea how much your generosity, love, and support mean to me. Yes, you, the person reading this. I realize how fortunate I am to have you.” During his interview, Alec Baldwin explained that he agreed to appear in the primetime special to clear up “a number of misconceptions” about what happened on the Rust set.
“I wanted to come to talk to you because I wanted to say I would go to any length to undo what happened,” he explained. “I want to make sure I’m not coming across as the victim, because we have two victims here.”
He went on to say that he had “no idea” how a live bullet got onto the movie set and into the prop gun, and that “someone put a live bullet in a gun.” A bullet that wasn’t supposed to be on the premises.”
According to a search warrant affidavit, the actor was given the gun by assistant director David Halls, who shouted “cold gun” to alert other crew members that the prop did not contain any live rounds. According to Halls’ lawyer, the assistant director supports Baldwin’s claim that he did not pull the trigger on the set.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, a Rust armorer, stated after the shooting that she had “no idea” where the live ammunition came from.
