Photographer Says Alec Baldwin Punched Him in the Face
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin allegedly punched a photographer on the chin on Tuesday, the New York Daily News reports.
The paper posted photos of Baldwin supposedly accosting one of its photographers outside New York City's Marriage License Bureau. According to the Daily News, after obtaining his marriage license with fiancée Hilaria Thomas, Baldwin punched Marcus Santos after the photographer snapped the actor's picture.
Santos claims that Baldwin then approached him and two other photographers outside the office. When Baldwin grabbed photographer Jefferson Siegel, Santos says he stepped in to diffuse the situation.
"I said, 'Don't touch him,'" Santos said. "I knew he was going to attack me. I stepped back, and he kept coming."
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He added: "He comes after me, starts shoving and punching me — one time, right in the chin. And then he started shoving me, and pushing me. Then he goes the other way."
Baldwin's rep, Matthew Hiltzik, denies the photographer's account.
"As Alec and his fiancée were leaving City Hall, a 'civilian' walking in front of Alec positioned himself to obstruct the view of a photographer aggressively trying to shoot the couple," Hiltzik said in a statement to TVGuide.com. "The photographer was clearly frustrated, pushed past the bystander and assaulted Alec with his camera. There were no punches thrown, and any subsequent physical contact was simply Alec protecting himself."
The 30 Rock star also personally shared his version of the encounter, tweeting, "A 'photographer' almost hit me in the face with his camera this morning. #allpaparazzishouldbewaterboarded."
Baldwin continued to vent about the incident and even compared it to the Trayvon Martin scandal, writing, "I suppose if the offending paparazzi was wearing a hoodie and I shot him, it would all blow over..."
Baldwin also tweeted that Santos has checked himself into a hospital claiming injuries.
This isn't Baldwin's first run-in with a photographer. The actor supposedly attacked a paparazzo outside his home on Central Park West in 2010.
Baldwin was also recently kicked off a plane for refusing to stop his Words with Friends game.