Alec Baldwin deleted his Twitter account after facing backlash over a tearful interview in which he denied responsibility for killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the New York Post reports.
Before going offline, the embattled actor told George Stephanopoulos that he did not feel guilty over the fatal shooting on the set of the Western movie Rust.
Criticism of his denials
In his interview, Baldwin denied pulling the trigger when a misplaced round struck and killed Hutchins during a rehearsal, Fox News noted.
Baldwin has been criticized for claiming that the gun went off by itself, and even appeared to blame Hutchins, emphasizing that he was “holding the gun where she told me to hold it, which ended up being aimed right below her armpit.”
“I cock the gun. I go, ‘Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?'” he added. “And then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off.”
Baldwin also emphasized that someone else had left a live round in the gun that wasn’t supposed to be there. “Someone put a live bullet in a gun,” he said. “I know it’s not me”.
Days after the Dec. 3 interview, the actor deleted his primary Twitter account, “@alecbaldwin.” His wife Hilaria also deleted hers. Baldwin had used his account to respond to public scrutiny over the shooting. Baldwin has a separate, dormant account that he describes as a “social media phantom limb.”
Baldwin feels no guilt
Although Baldwin is off Twitter, he hasn’t disappeared from social media completely.
In weekend Instagram posts to each other, Baldwin said his wife had given him “a reason to live,” while Hilaria vowed to support her husband through “this unthinkable nightmare.”
The 30 Rock star also told ABC that he was indifferent about his career being potentially over, and said he “dreams” about the shooting “constantly,” but doesn’t feel guilty about it. As the Daily Mail reported, the actor said that if he did, he might have killed himself by now.
“Honest to God, if I thought I was responsible I might have killed myself. And I don’t say that lightly,” he said.
While Baldwin denies blame, it certainly sounds like he is haunted by the tragedy and feels responsible in some way for what transpired.
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