Alec Baldwin hit with $25 Million defamation lawsuit
01-20-22, 04:08 PM
#1
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Alec Baldwin hit with $25 Million defamation lawsuit
So this popped up on Google News today. I'm going to post the NBC News version of the story and link to that because I think it has the most detail and balanced tone.
Alec Baldwin hit with . . .
Family members of a Marine killed in Afghanistan filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against Alec Baldwin.
Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum was killed Aug. 26, 2021, at the Kabul airport. Baldwin donated $5,000 to a fund for assistance for McCollum’s widow
But Baldwin found out earlier this month that the late Marine’s sister, Roice McCollum, is a supporter of former President Trump.
Two weeks ago, she posted an Instagram picture of herself in front of the Washington Monument on Jan. 6 last year, wearing a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap.
Baldwin wrote under the image, “Are you the same woman that I sent the $ to for your sister’s husband who was killed during the Afghanistan exit?”
Roice McCollum confirmed to Baldwin that she’s the Marine’s sister.
“When I sent you the $ for your late brother, out of a real respect for his service to our country, I didn’t know you were a January 6th rioter,” Baldwin allegedly wrote back, according to the lawsuit.
Roice McCollum said she never entered the Capitol, was interviewed by the FBI and cleared of any wrongdoing. According to the suit, she explained this to Baldwin in a private message and told him that "Protesting is perfectly legal."
The suit says Baldwin responded by remarking that “her activities resulted in the unlawful destruction of government property, the death of a law enforcement officer, an assault on the certification of the presidential election,” and told McCollum that he’d reposted the photo to his 2.4 million Instagram followers.
“I reposted your photo,” Baldwin wrote, according to screen captures of the private conversation that were included in the lawsuit. “Good luck.”
Within minutes of Baldwin’s alleged posting, Roice McCollum said, she was flooded with “hundreds of hateful messages,” according to the lawsuit. One of the alleged messages read, “Get raped and die … Your brother got what he deserved.”
Baldwin removed the post with McCollum's picture the next day.The suit, which accuses Baldwin of “defamation by implication, negligence, gross negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress,” was filed on behalf of the Marine’s sister, his wife, Jiennah McCollum, and another sister, Cheyenne McCollum.
“The social media onslaught of hatred and bile that ensued was entirely foreseeable to Baldwin,” the lawsuit said, “and any reasonably careful person under similar or the same circumstances as Baldwin would have anticipated the mental anguish and suffering and the physical manifestation of that mental pain that would result in his conduct.”
So this woman posted a picture of herself attending Trump's rally on 1/6, and Baldwin reposted it, and what happened happened.
Wouldn't an argument be that she invited the response by posting on social media, and that Baldwin extending that invitation to his millions of followers is exactly the point of the app?
I would say that what happened was foreseeable by Baldwin, but isn't it also supposed to be foreseeable by her?
Why would she decide to advertise it a year later that she was at the MAGA rally on 1/6?
And does that advertisement of her political views in a public forum available to strangers all over the world, in a way, make her a public figure who must endure whatever response gets generated?
Note that Baldwn did not accuse her of any crimes. I pulled it from a WGN story that he said, "her activities resulted . . . " which is an interesting idea to parse out. Just by being at the rally, and actively supporting Trump's cause, does she still bear some responsibility for the outcome, even if it is not a legal responsibility?
But my favorite thing about this story is that every headline for it says a version of this:
Family of US Marine killed in Afghanistan files $25 million lawsuit against Alec Baldwin
Every news outlet has chosen to cast this as a conflict between Baldwin and a Gold Star family, rather than a conflict between Baldwin and a MAGA lady who was in DC on 1/6.
Alec Baldwin hit with . . .
Family members of a Marine killed in Afghanistan filed a $25 million defamation lawsuit against Alec Baldwin.
Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum was killed Aug. 26, 2021, at the Kabul airport. Baldwin donated $5,000 to a fund for assistance for McCollum’s widow
But Baldwin found out earlier this month that the late Marine’s sister, Roice McCollum, is a supporter of former President Trump.
Two weeks ago, she posted an Instagram picture of herself in front of the Washington Monument on Jan. 6 last year, wearing a “Make America Great Again” baseball cap.
Baldwin wrote under the image, “Are you the same woman that I sent the $ to for your sister’s husband who was killed during the Afghanistan exit?”
Roice McCollum confirmed to Baldwin that she’s the Marine’s sister.
“When I sent you the $ for your late brother, out of a real respect for his service to our country, I didn’t know you were a January 6th rioter,” Baldwin allegedly wrote back, according to the lawsuit.
Roice McCollum said she never entered the Capitol, was interviewed by the FBI and cleared of any wrongdoing. According to the suit, she explained this to Baldwin in a private message and told him that "Protesting is perfectly legal."
The suit says Baldwin responded by remarking that “her activities resulted in the unlawful destruction of government property, the death of a law enforcement officer, an assault on the certification of the presidential election,” and told McCollum that he’d reposted the photo to his 2.4 million Instagram followers.
“I reposted your photo,” Baldwin wrote, according to screen captures of the private conversation that were included in the lawsuit. “Good luck.”
Within minutes of Baldwin’s alleged posting, Roice McCollum said, she was flooded with “hundreds of hateful messages,” according to the lawsuit. One of the alleged messages read, “Get raped and die … Your brother got what he deserved.”
Baldwin removed the post with McCollum's picture the next day.The suit, which accuses Baldwin of “defamation by implication, negligence, gross negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress,” was filed on behalf of the Marine’s sister, his wife, Jiennah McCollum, and another sister, Cheyenne McCollum.
“The social media onslaught of hatred and bile that ensued was entirely foreseeable to Baldwin,” the lawsuit said, “and any reasonably careful person under similar or the same circumstances as Baldwin would have anticipated the mental anguish and suffering and the physical manifestation of that mental pain that would result in his conduct.”
So this woman posted a picture of herself attending Trump's rally on 1/6, and Baldwin reposted it, and what happened happened.
Wouldn't an argument be that she invited the response by posting on social media, and that Baldwin extending that invitation to his millions of followers is exactly the point of the app?
I would say that what happened was foreseeable by Baldwin, but isn't it also supposed to be foreseeable by her?
Why would she decide to advertise it a year later that she was at the MAGA rally on 1/6?
And does that advertisement of her political views in a public forum available to strangers all over the world, in a way, make her a public figure who must endure whatever response gets generated?
Note that Baldwn did not accuse her of any crimes. I pulled it from a WGN story that he said, "her activities resulted . . . " which is an interesting idea to parse out. Just by being at the rally, and actively supporting Trump's cause, does she still bear some responsibility for the outcome, even if it is not a legal responsibility?
But my favorite thing about this story is that every headline for it says a version of this:
Family of US Marine killed in Afghanistan files $25 million lawsuit against Alec Baldwin
Every news outlet has chosen to cast this as a conflict between Baldwin and a Gold Star family, rather than a conflict between Baldwin and a MAGA lady who was in DC on 1/6.
01-20-22, 04:11 PM
#2
DVD Talk Godfather & 2020 TOTY Winner
Re: Alec Baldwin hit with $25 Million defamation lawsuit
Absurd, but maybe not surprising. It won't go anywhere in the courts, but I'm sure Fox News will have (another) field day at Baldwin's expense over this.
01-20-22, 04:15 PM
#3
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Re: Alec Baldwin hit with $25 Million defamation lawsuit
Also interesting is to check each story to see how prominently placed it is that Baldwin is involved in the ongoing investigation of Ms Hutchins fatal shooting.
01-20-22, 04:48 PM
#6
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Alec Baldwin hit with $25 Million defamation lawsuit
I, for one, am shocked that a MAGA nut job would have it out for Alec Baldwin.
01-20-22, 05:08 PM
#7
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Re: Alec Baldwin hit with $25 Million defamation lawsuit
Originally Posted by GoldenJCJ
I, for one, am shocked that a MAGA nut job would have it out for Alec Baldwin.
01-20-22, 07:57 PM
#9
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Alec Baldwin hit with $25 Million defamation lawsuit
Honestly, it's never ok for a major public figure to put a private person in the spotlight the way he did. This shit has happened a lot in the last 5-10 years, and it's more obnoxious now than ever.
However, they seemingly have no case against him, and they're praying for a payout. Calling her a Jan 6 'rioter' if he did so publicly and not via private message, is the closest thing to defamation, and that seems like a massive stretch.
Siccing his followers on her by reposting her own public social media post was a pretty shitty thing to do, and it's obvious he knew it would bring some level of harassment, which is why he said 'good luck'. Still, not illegal. Not defamation. Not anything worse than what people with big audiences are doing every single day when they target an individual. People need to stop doing that shit, because rabid audiences will never learn, but nothing he did crosses the legal line.
But this will be a good grift for her going forward. No doubt, tons of self-proclaimed patriots will gladly give her money if/when she starts asking for it. Looking forward to her doing interviews with Tucker, Rubin, and Pool.
However, they seemingly have no case against him, and they're praying for a payout. Calling her a Jan 6 'rioter' if he did so publicly and not via private message, is the closest thing to defamation, and that seems like a massive stretch.
Siccing his followers on her by reposting her own public social media post was a pretty shitty thing to do, and it's obvious he knew it would bring some level of harassment, which is why he said 'good luck'. Still, not illegal. Not defamation. Not anything worse than what people with big audiences are doing every single day when they target an individual. People need to stop doing that shit, because rabid audiences will never learn, but nothing he did crosses the legal line.
But this will be a good grift for her going forward. No doubt, tons of self-proclaimed patriots will gladly give her money if/when she starts asking for it. Looking forward to her doing interviews with Tucker, Rubin, and Pool.
01-20-22, 08:34 PM
#10
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Alec Baldwin hit with $25 Million defamation lawsuit
Originally Posted by Dan
Honestly, it's never ok for a major public figure to put a private person in the spotlight the way he did. This shit has happened a lot in the last 5-10 years, and it's more obnoxious now than ever.
However, they seemingly have no case against him, and they're praying for a payout. Calling her a Jan 6 'rioter' if he did so publicly and not via private message, is the closest thing to defamation, and that seems like a massive stretch.
Siccing his followers on her by reposting her own public social media post was a pretty shitty thing to do, and it's obvious he knew it would bring some level of harassment, which is why he said 'good luck'. Still, not illegal. Not defamation. Not anything worse than what people with big audiences are doing every single day when they target an individual. People need to stop doing that shit, because rabid audiences will never learn, but nothing he did crosses the legal line.
But this will be a good grift for her going forward. No doubt, tons of self-proclaimed patriots will gladly give her money if/when she starts asking for it. Looking forward to her doing interviews with Tucker, Rubin, and Pool.
However, they seemingly have no case against him, and they're praying for a payout. Calling her a Jan 6 'rioter' if he did so publicly and not via private message, is the closest thing to defamation, and that seems like a massive stretch.
Siccing his followers on her by reposting her own public social media post was a pretty shitty thing to do, and it's obvious he knew it would bring some level of harassment, which is why he said 'good luck'. Still, not illegal. Not defamation. Not anything worse than what people with big audiences are doing every single day when they target an individual. People need to stop doing that shit, because rabid audiences will never learn, but nothing he did crosses the legal line.
But this will be a good grift for her going forward. No doubt, tons of self-proclaimed patriots will gladly give her money if/when she starts asking for it. Looking forward to her doing interviews with Tucker, Rubin, and Pool.
