Alec Baldwin’s daughter Ireland defends father against ‘abhorrent and threatening comments’

Ireland Baldwin has continued to defend her father, Alec Baldwin, following the fatal Rust shooting that led to cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’s death.

The 26-year-old model posted a screenshot of a positive comment about the 30 Rock actor on her Instagram on Wednesday (27 October), amid an apparent onslaught of “abhorrent and threatening comments, emails, text messages, and voicemails” aimed at her father.

The comment came from someone who identified themselves as working with the same production company that made the 1999 film Thomas and the Magic Railroad, starring Baldwin as Mr Conductor.

Highlighting the actor’s work ethic, the comment said: “I’d dealt with typing up some pretty goofy celebrity riders in my day but NOT your dad.”

A rider is a request an actor makes as a criteria for performance. While working on the children’s film, Alec Baldwin reportedly only requested cereal and milk in his hotel room for when his daughter came to visit.

The actor’s daughter acknowledged the “beautiful comment that stands alone” in the face of other vitriolic posts.

“I know my dad, you simply don’t,” the actor’s daughter wrote, adding “I love you Dad” with a heart emoji.

On 21 October, Alec Baldwin fired a gun that was being used as a prop in the Western Rust, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Baldwin wrote in a statement after the incident: “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours.

“I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”

Members of the far-right are among those targeting the actor due to his anti-gun stance.

Shortly after the tragedy occurred, Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr was condemned after beginning a spiteful social media campaign against the actor, including selling $28 T-shirts that read: “Guns don’t kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people.”

Baldwin famously impersonated Trump on Saturday Night Live, which infuriated the then-president and his supporters.

Conservative pundit Candace Owens went as far as to tweet this week that Hutchins’s death was “poetic justice” for Baldwin’s criticism of the former American president.

Her tweet has since been deleted, but it prompted a strong reaction from Ireland.

She responded to Owen’s tweet with a post on her Instagram story that read: “You are the most disgusting, hateful, cancerous human being I’ve ever come across.”

“Regardless of your foul opinions most of the time, the fact that you would disrespect the life of a woman who was accidentally and tragically killed...Shame on you,” she added.

The investigation into the fatal shooting is currently ongoing, according to Santa Fe county sheriff Adan Mendoza. In a press conference on Wednesday (27 October), Mr Mendona said “no one has been ruled out” when asked whether Alec Baldwin will face charges.

The actor has reportedly been cooperating with local authorities in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was also seen consoling Hutchins’s husband and her nine-year-old daughter.