Alec Baldwin is facing a $25 million defamation lawsuit from a military family of a Marine killed in Afghanistan after he allegedly insinuated on social media that one of the family members joined the Capital riots in January 2021.
The actor donated $5,000 to the family of the late Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, who was hit by a suicide bomber while assisting the escape of the refugees at the Kabul airport. McCollum's widow, Jiennah McCollum, was pregnant at that time so friends and family members set up a GoFundMe for her and her soon-to-be-born child.
Baldwin learned of the GoFundMe and gave a check to Roice McCollum, the sister of the corporal. Baldwin also wrote a note on the check, which stated that it was a "tribute to a fallen soldier."
But on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022, Roice allegedly shared a photo of some Washington Monument demonstrators and wrote under the captions that this was in anticipation of the first anniversary of the Washington demonstrations. She also shared a photo of herself on the same spot, from Jan. 6, 2021, with her "Make America Great Again" cap.
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"You're an Insurrectionist"
After reading Roice's posts, Baldwin sent a message to her on Instagram asking if she was the same person who got his cheque for a fallen soldier. When she confirmed it, Baldwin blasted her on Instagram because he had no idea she was "a January 6th rioter."
Roice tried to explain to the actor that she didn't storm the Capitol unlike the rest of the rioters. She was also interviewed and cleared by the FBI and was "never detained, arrested, accused of or charged with any crime," in connection to the Capitol riots.
However, Baldwin allegedly could not accept her explanation and then reposted Roice's photo on his own Instagram account, saying that Trumpsters were wrong to call their protest an "exercise in democracy." Because of his post, Roice received "hundreds of hateful messages" until Baldwin decided to take his re-shared post down.
In his private messages to Roice, Baldwin also acknowledged that the vitriol she got from his followers was wrong. However, he insisted that he only wanted to point out the irony that he was honoring Roice's brother when she's an insurrectionist.
The lawsuit accuses the actor of "defamation by implication" as well the "intentional infliction of emotional distress." It was filed by Roice, her sister, Cheyenne McCollum, and their sister-in-law, Jiennah, the corporal's wife.
Dragging the Corporal's Legacy in Mud
The lawyers for the family said that when Baldwin reshared Roice's photo to his massive social media fanbase, he was also dragging the legacy of the deceased corporal through the mud. The lawyers also described Baldwin's action as "especially deplorable" after he chimed in the comments section of his posts and repeatedly accused the corporal's sister of being an insurrectionist despite explaining that she had no part in the riots.
Worse, Cheyenne and Jiennah also received hurtful messages on their social media accounts even though they didn't join the Washington demonstrations. The lawsuit stated that Baldwin was aware that Roice would get hate and threats when he reposted her photo because he told her "good luck" after declaring that his repost.
