Alec Baldwin 'Rust' shooting trial: Reality show is a ‘terrible PR blunder,’ expert says

Alec and Hilaria Baldwin popped into a Santa Fe clothing store Wednesday amid his involuntary manslaughter trial

Attorney Gloria Allred speaks with Fox News Digital during Alec Baldwin's manslaughter trial

Allred is representing the family of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed on set in 2021. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital) 

SANTE FE, N.M. Alec Baldwin's embrace of a new reality show amid his ongoing involuntary manslaughter trial could amount to a damaging public relations "blunder," industry experts told Fox News Digital.

The actor is facing up to 18 months behind bars if found guilty of acting negligently or without care when he accidentally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead on the set of the Western movie "Rust" in 2021.

"I think it’s a terrible PR blunder," said defense attorney Timothy Parlatore of the reality show project. "When you’re on trial for something like this it has to be your sole focus. This trial will be over in less than two weeks. There is no need to go and do these things before a trial in a way that can negatively impact you." 

ALEC BALDWIN ‘RUST’ TRIAL: JURY WILL HEAR ACTOR URGE WIFE TO VISIT FOR A ‘GOOD TIME’ JUST AFTER SHOOTING

Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria Baldwin leave District Court

Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria Baldwin leave District Court, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, following the day's proceedings in his involuntary manslaughter trial in Santa Fe, N.M.  (AP Photo/Roberto E. Rosales)

The irascible thespian's wife, Hilaria, has been a prominent presence at his trial in Santa Fe's First Judicial District Court. She paraded her youngest child in front of a crush of cameras outside the courthouse on her first day attending the proceedings, then sat in the front row where she has remained a fixture since.

The Baldwins have strolled around the quaint New Mexico town after leaving court, eating at an Italian restaurant on Tuesday and shopping at one of Santa Fe's numerous upscale boutiques, Uli's, on Wednesday with their toddler in tow.

"Their social media accounts have been a stream of self-absorbed posts about how they are the ultimate victims, and they seem oblivious to how tone-deaf their continued self-promotion is."

— Ebony Lewkovitz, founder of Eden Communications

The couple's jaunt to the clothing store, with Baldwin pushing a stroller, came hours after jurors watched harrowing police body camera footage of medics attending to Hutchins in the final moments of her life. 

FATAL TIMELINE IN ALEC BALDWIN ‘RUST’ SHOOTING THAT LED TO ACTORS INVOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER CHARGE

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A post shared by Alec Baldwin (@alecbaldwininsta)

Attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing Hutchins' mom and sister, ripped the actor for announcing the TV project ahead of the trial and questioned whether he and his wife were trying to promote the new venture with their public appearances in Santa Fe.

"It appears to me to be a very cynical, calculated public relations move to possibly have an impact on the jury or the jury pool, to try to get sympathy for Alec Baldwin, and that’s why he not only brought his baby but allowed his baby to be taken from the car and photographed," she said.

PHOTO GALLERY: Baldwin family leaves courthouse after day 2 of actor's trial

  • Stephen Baldwin, exits the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Witness testimony for Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter continued today for the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

    Stephen Baldwin exits the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024.  (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

  • Beth Keuchler, exits the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Witness testimony for Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter continued today for the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

    Beth Keuchler leaves the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

  • Stephen Baldwin, exits the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Witness testimony for Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter continued today for the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

    Stephen Baldwin appeared in court again Thursday. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

  • Stephen Baldwin, exits the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Witness testimony for Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter continued today for the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

    Stephen Baldwin walking outside the courthouse. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

  • Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, exits the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Witness testimony for Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter continued today for the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

    Alec and Hilaria Baldwin exit the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

  • Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, exits the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Witness testimony for Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter continued today for the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

    Witness testimony for Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter continued Thursday. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

  • Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, exits the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Witness testimony for Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter continued today for the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

    Baldwin is on trial for the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

  • Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, exits the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Witness testimony for Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter continued today for the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

    Alec and Hilaria Baldwin leave court holding hands. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

Allred noted that Baldwin never reached out to Hutchins' family after the accidental shooting but has had time during a criminal trial to lightheartedly stroll up the city's chicest street.

"Is he taking it seriously?" she asked. "Or is he doing it because of the reality show? I don’t know. But if he is, then it is in such bad taste. I mean really. He had time to go shopping, but he never made time to call the grieving mother of Halyna Hutchins?"

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PHOTO GALLERY: Alec Baldwin and his family appear in court

  • Hilaria Baldwin attends her husband Alec Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter

    Hilaria Baldwin attends her husband Alec Baldwin's trial for involuntary manslaughter in Santa Fe County District Court, Santa Fe, New Mexico, on July 11, 2024. In October 2021, on the New Mexico set of the Western movie "Rust," a gun pointed by Baldwin discharged a live round, killing the film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, and wounding its director.  (Ramsay de Give/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

  • Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria Baldwin arrive at the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico

    Witness testimony for Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter continues today, nearly three years after the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

  • Alec Baldwin talks with his wife Hilaria Baldwin in First District Court

    Alec Baldwin talks with his wife Hilaria Baldwin in First District Court during the first day of testimony in the case against him, in Santa Fe, N.M. Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (Eddie Moore / Journal/Pool via REUTERS)

  • Alec Baldwin embraces his brother, actor Stephen Baldwin

    Alec Baldwin embraces his brother, actor Stephen Baldwin, during a break in his hearing in Santa Fe County District Court, Wednesday, July 10, 2024, in Santa Fe, N.M.  (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool)

  • Alec Baldwin leaves his hotel in Sante Fe

    Alec Baldwin leaves his hotel in Sante Fe, NM, Wednesday, July 10, 2024.  Baldwin is on trial for involuntary manslaughter  after the fatal shooting of "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

  • Hilaria Baldwin sits in the back seat of a car

    Hilaria Baldwin departs the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

Despite Baldwin's legal troubles, production is continuing on the TLC reality show "The Baldwins," based on the couple's whirlwind life raising seven children -- and they aren't shying away from the spotlight. 

The show's producers are preparing for all contingencies given Baldwin's precarious legal position -- including his potential incarceration, according to the New York Post.

"We'll roll with it," a source told the outlet.

Public relations maven Juda Engelmayer said Baldwin's reality show announcement and carefree outings while facing grave felony charges are unseemly.

"Given the weight of what he’s looking at, whether he's guilty or not, he should be somber," he said. "He should look like he cares. He should look like he’s respecting the family of the woman who was killed."

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Alec Baldwin wears bow tie and black suit with wife Hilaria in floral print dress.

Alec Baldwin and wife Hilaria signed up for a TLC reality show documenting their everyday life with seven children. (Getty Images)

Engelmayer said Baldwin's behavior will do little to ease his reputation as a hothead.

"What he’s doing is an arrogance that besieged Alec Baldwin way before this happened," he added. 

Baldwin's attorneys assert that he was told the gun was safe to use prior to fatally shooting Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, and that he didn't bear responsibility for checking it beforehand.

Prosecutors have countered that under New Mexico law, the actor was responsible for the safety of his firearm. 

Ebony Lewkovitz, founder of PR firm Eden Communications in New York City, called the couple's handling of the tragedy a "master class in bad PR" and suggested that whoever is advising them be "shown the door."

"Their social media accounts have been a stream of self-absorbed posts about how they are the ultimate victims, and they seem oblivious to how tone-deaf their continued self-promotion is," she told Fox News Digital. "The Baldwins need to face this trial with the seriousness it deserves."

Rebecca Rosenberg is a veteran journalist and book author with a focus on crime and criminal justice. Email tips to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and @ReRosenberg.

Authored by Rebecca Rosenberg via FoxNews July 11th 2024