Alec Baldwin Faces $25 Million Defamation Lawsuit For Calling Fallen Marine's Family 'Insurrectionist'

Alec Baldwin is facing a defamation lawsuit for allegedly accusing the family of a fallen U.S. Marine of taking part in the Capitol riots in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6. Court documents obtained by People reveal that the family wants a jury trial.

The $25 million lawsuit, which accuses Baldwin of defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, arises from a now-deleted post shared by the 63-year-old actor on Instagram earlier this month.

Marine Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum died in a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021 while processing refugees amid the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country during the Taliban takeover. Following his death, Baldwin reached out to one of his sisters, Roice, 22, on Instagram, and sent her $5,000 as a donation to be given to McCollum’s widow, Jiennah Crayton, and their newborn. At the time, the actor called his donation a "tribute to a fallen soldier."

On Jan. 3, however, Roice posted an Instagram photo that gave Baldwin second thoughts about his donation. The image showed Roice at the Washington Monument on the day of the Capitol riots, and was captioned, “Throwback.”

After she posted the photo, Baldwin accused Roice of being a participant in the Capitol riots and sent her a private message on Instagram, calling her an “insurrectionist” and a “Jan. 6 rioter,” according to the lawsuit in which Roice said Baldwin even reposted her photos of the demonstration to his own Instagram, telling her in a DM, “I reposted your photo. Good luck.” The actor has since deleted his post.

According to Roice, it was true that she showed up to march at the Capitol on Jan. 6. However, she denied having participated in the riots or any unlawful activity that followed the protest. She also said in the court documents that neither her sister Cheyenne nor Crayton joined the riots, as Baldwin claimed.

Court documents reveal that after being stuck in place outside the Capitol Building during the riot, a neighbor who was unhappy that Roice attended the demonstration turned her into the authorities. However, she was cleared after an interview with the FBI.

The lawsuit further states that Roice and the other members of her family have received “hostile, aggressive, and hateful” messages on social media because of Baldwin, calling his comments “false, outrageous, defamatory, irresponsible, and vindictive.”

Baldwin has yet to comment on the lawsuit, which comes amid another lawsuit filed against him following the "Rust" shooting incident. In October 2021, Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins while rehearsing a scene for the film. His lawyer has always maintained it was an accident, saying the actor had been told it was a cold gun before he pulled the trigger.