Hilaria Baldwin accused of making Halyna Hutchins’ tragedy about herself

Hilaria Baldwin, Alec Baldwin’s influencer wife, put on a quite a show over the weekend while she, her husband and their family were unsuccessfully trying to seek “quiet” refuge from the media onslaught in a small town in Vermont.

Fewer than 10 days after Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his Western film, “Rust,” Hilaria Baldwin appeared eager to seize control of the narrative that’s been swirling around the tragedy — and with her appearing to play the role as a central protagonist in a real-life Hollywood drama in which the scrutinizing media is the enemy.

One view of Hilaria Baldwin’s actions is that she is simply being a loving, supportive wife and mother who is “trying to create space for husband to mourn,” as CNN reported.

Perhaps that’s true, and some would say that her public display of anger, during her husband’s impromptu press conference Saturday, is justified given how the paparazzi have been following the Baldwins around after discovering them in Manchester, Vermont.

Another take is that Hilaria Baldwin is seeking her 15 minutes of fame and “making the tragedy about her” as her husband tries to manage a horrific personal situation.

Critics have accused Hilaria of long seeking the limelight for her career as a yoga teacher, lifestyle guru and mom podcaster. The Boston native also has spent a decade bizarrely presenting herself in multiple interviews as a glamorous “half-Spanish” immigrant.

#AlecBaldwin speaks out about #HalynaHutchins. Btw what’s up with his weird wife hoping for her 10 min of fame? She should have stayed in the car with the crying kids. #fakelatina #hilariabaldwin #hillarybaldwin https://t.co/rS70qzys9z pic.twitter.com/DUT6vSHMeM

— nopenopenope2.0 (@PuMa50315748) October 31, 2021

However one might view Hilaria Baldwin, there’s a lot to consider with her whirlwind weekend of actions and statements, which showed her both lash out at reporters but also attempt to garner sympathy and even admiration for how she’s handling the situation.

On Saturday, she gave an exclusive interview to the New York Post, a tabloid that usually isn’t friendly to her politically outspoken husband. Hilaria expressed concern that the grief-stricken “30 Rock” star would develop PTSD, like “soldiers and police officers when something like this happens.”

Hilaria Baldwin also positioned herself as her husband’s chief defender and caretaker, telling the Post: “He needs space for me to take care of him and his mental health. It’s an awful thing that happened. Alec feels awful.”

That day, she garnered the most attention for coming across as angry and defiant during the tense, roadside press conference that Alec Baldwin gave to photographers.

This scene with Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Baldwin (aka 100% not-Spanish Hillary from Boston who is still using a fake accent) is nuts. He’s trying to deal with the paps and his wife keeps jumping in, trying to butt in and FILMING because she’s that desperate for attention. pic.twitter.com/Lbej36WpFL

— Stars Rom (@blanket1734) October 30, 2021

As the usually hotheaded Alec Baldwin tried to calmly respond to photographers’ questions and plead for his family’s privacy, Hilaria Baldwin repeatedly inserted herself into the conversation, with Baldwin at one point telling her, “Do me a favor. I’m going to answer the questions.” Hilaria continued to pace around, made a show of recording the interview with her iPhone and laid into a reporter who briefly appeared to forget Hutchins’ name.

“They were waiting for your husband, not you #hilariabaldwin,” added someone  “There is no ‘we’ to them. What happened was a tragedy. Stop making it about you.”

Perhaps concerned that people would think her husband was mad at her, Hilaria Baldwin on Saturday also posted an Instagram photo of what appears to be her hand clutching her husband’s, with the caption “I love you and I’m here.”

Then on Sunday, the mother of six went into mom influencer mode, sharing happy family Halloween images, with one showing a smiling Baldwin in a “last-minute” costume of horns and a long gray beard that was inspired by “Where the Wild Things Are,” according to the Daily Mail.

“Parenting through this has been an intense experience, to say the least,” Hilaria Baldwin captioned the photo and video. “Today, we rallied to give them a holiday. Last min costumes…a little hodge-podge…but they were so happy and that warmed my mama heart.”

Critics slam ‘tasteless’ Halloween Instagram post just days after Alec Baldwin accidentally killed cinematographer https://t.co/wQkNnXm9Cc pic.twitter.com/abCCp7Ekgd

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) November 1, 2021

The limited number of celebrity friends allowed to comment on Hilaria’s post (Hilaria limited comments on her Instagram account following her Spanish identity scandal) expressed their support and admiration for the couple. Actor Leslie Jordan praised them for “giving (their six children) a great childhood,” despite “the chaos.”

But elsewhere on social media, Hilaria Baldwin was criticized for an “inappropriate and tasteless” Halloween post, with some people reminding her that Hutchins’ 9-year-old son is facing his first Halloween without his mother.

One person tweeted: “The Baldwin kids should absolutely enjoy Halloween. This year, though, #hilariabaldwin should have kept their festivities (and herself) off social media. Halyna’s son didn’t get to enjoy this holiday. Celebrate without posting, Hillary. It’s literally the least you could do.”

The Baldwin kids should absolutely enjoy Halloween. This year, though, #hilariabaldwin should have kept their festivities (and herself) off social media. Halyna’s son didn’t get to enjoy this holiday. Celebrate without posting, Hillary. It’s literally the least you could do. pic.twitter.com/PUYFtH9VU3

— Chavela Lorca (@ChavelaLorca) November 1, 2021

Alec Baldwin, 63, has spent a long career being at the center of media “storms,” often of his own making, as the Los Angeles Times pointed out in an earlier report. He’s now in the middle of “a hurricane,” facing intense legal and public relations pressure over the Oct. 21 shooting on a New Mexico set that killed Hutchins and wounded Joel Souza.

Baldwin, playing a grizzled 1880s outlaw in the low-budget Western, was rehearsing a scene that would involve a shootout, the Los Angeles described in a detailed report over the weekend. As the veteran actor pulled a Colt .45 revolver from its holster, he aimed it toward the camera, near which stood Hutchins and Souza.

The weapon fired, with a suspected live round fatally striking Hutchins, 42, and wounding Souza, 48.

No bullet was supposed to be in the gun — just a dummy round that contained no projectile, the Los Angeles Times said. Baldwin was told that the gun was “cold” by assistant director Dave Halls. The assistant director told Santa Fe County Sheriff’s investigators that he watched Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the film’s rookie 24-year-old armorer, perform a safety check of the Colt, but Halls said he did not check the rounds before taking the gun and handing it to Baldwin.

Santa Fe County authorities said at a news conference last week that the investigation is ongoing, with particular focus on the actions of Halls, Gutierrez Reed and Baldwin. Authorities said they haven’t ruled out charging anyone with a crime.

Many legal experts say they don’t foresee Baldwin being criminally charged, but they expect he faces tremendous civil liability. That’s in large part because Baldwin was a producer on “Rust,” and the production was reportedly beset by crews’ concerns about safety, with the crew saying there had been three accidental discharges of weapons on set, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Sheriff Adan Mendoza said: “I think there was some complacency on the set.”

David Ring, a Los Angeles trial attorney, told People that “there’s no doubt” Baldwin will be named in any wrongful death lawsuit filed by Hutchins’ family.

“Obviously there’s negligence (in this case) and it just depends on who was negligent,” Ring said. “But ultimately the production company is in charge. It happened on their watch.”

As Alec Baldwin is in the hot seat, crisis management and public relations experts say they would advise the actor and others close to him, especially Hilaria, to keep a low profile and to take care with any public statements or in how they are seen in public.

Baldwin “needs to be very cautious and controlled,” Evan Nierman, founder of the crisis management and P.R. firm Red Banyan, told this news organization. “He even needs to make sure he’s not photographed out having dinner with friends, or laughing at a joke, or even seen smiling.”

It’s also important that Baldwin and others close to him not say too much about any hardships he or his family are suffering, so that they don’t run “the risk of being criticized … for not being empathetic to Hutchins’ family or not understanding the gravity of what’s happened,” Nierman added.