Alec Baldwin 'Rust' shooting trial: Reality show is a ‘terrible PR blunder,’ expert says
SANTE FE, N.M. Alec Baldwin's embrace of a new reality show amid his ongoing involuntary manslaughter trial could amount to a damaging public relations "blunder," industry experts told Fox News Digital.
The actor is facing up to 18 months behind bars if found guilty of acting negligently or without care when he accidentally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead on the set of the Western movie "Rust" in 2021.
"I think it’s a terrible PR blunder," said defense attorney Timothy Parlatore of the reality show project. "When you’re on trial for something like this it has to be your sole focus. This trial will be over in less than two weeks. There is no need to go and do these things before a trial in a way that can negatively impact you."
The irascible thespian's wife, Hilaria, has been a prominent presence at his trial in Santa Fe's First Judicial District Court. She paraded her youngest child in front of a crush of cameras outside the courthouse on her first day attending the proceedings, then sat in the front row where she has remained a fixture since.
The Baldwins have strolled around the quaint New Mexico town after leaving court, eating at an Italian restaurant on Tuesday and shopping at one of Santa Fe's numerous upscale boutiques, Uli's, on Wednesday with their toddler in tow.
The couple's jaunt to the clothing store, with Baldwin pushing a stroller, came hours after jurors watched harrowing police body camera footage of medics attending to Hutchins in the final moments of her life.
FATAL TIMELINE IN ALEC BALDWIN ‘RUST’ SHOOTING THAT LED TO ACTORS INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE
Attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Hutchins' mom and sister, ripped the actor for announcing the TV project ahead of the trial and questioned whether he and his wife were trying to promote the new venture with their public appearances in Santa Fe.
"It appears to me to be a very cynical, calculated public relations move to possibly have an impact on the jury or the jury pool, to try to get sympathy for Alec Baldwin, and that’s why he not only brought his baby but allowed his baby to be taken from the car and photographed," she said.
PHOTO GALLERY: Baldwin family leaves courthouse after day 2 of actor's trial
Allred noted that Baldwin never reached out to Hutchins' family after the accidental shooting but has had time during a criminal trial to lightheartedly stroll up the city's chicest street.
"Is he taking it seriously?" she asked. "Or is he doing it because of the reality show? I don’t know. But if he is, then it is in such bad taste. I mean really. He had time to go shopping, but he never made time to call the grieving mother of Halyna Hutchins?"
PHOTO GALLERY: Alec Baldwin and his family appear in court
Despite Baldwin's legal troubles, production is continuing on the TLC reality show "The Baldwins," based on the couple's whirlwind life raising seven children -- and they aren't shying away from the spotlight.
The show's producers are preparing for all contingencies given Baldwin's precarious legal position -- including his potential incarceration, according to the New York Post.
"We'll roll with it," a source told the outlet.
Public relations maven Juda Engelmayer said Baldwin's reality show announcement and carefree outings while facing grave felony charges are unseemly.
"Given the weight of what he’s looking at, whether he's guilty or not, he should be somber," he said. "He should look like he cares. He should look like he’s respecting the family of the woman who was killed."
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Engelmayer said Baldwin's behavior will do little to ease his reputation as a hothead.
"What he’s doing is an arrogance that besieged Alec Baldwin way before this happened," he added.
Baldwin's attorneys assert that he was told the gun was safe to use prior to fatally shooting Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, and that he didn't bear responsibility for checking it beforehand.
Prosecutors have countered that under New Mexico law, the actor was responsible for the safety of his firearm.
Ebony Lewkovitz, founder of PR firm Eden Communications in New York City, called the couple's handling of the tragedy a "master class in bad PR" and suggested that whoever is advising them be "shown the door."
"Their social media accounts have been a stream of self-absorbed posts about how they are the ultimate victims, and they seem oblivious to how tone-deaf their continued self-promotion is," she told Fox News Digital. "The Baldwins need to face this trial with the seriousness it deserves."