The person was trying to get Baldwin to say “Free Palestine.”
Alec Baldwin seemingly slapped someone’s phone out of their hand after they kept trying to get him to say “Free Palestine.”
A video posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday night sees a person go up to Baldwin at a New York City coffee shop.
The nearly one-minute video, posted on an account with the name “Crackhead Barney & Friends,” begins with the person asking him to say “Free Palestine.” The person then went on to address Baldwin’s ongoing involuntary manslaughter case, following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the Rust set.
“Why did you kill that lady? You killed that lady, got no jail time,” the user continued. “No jail time Alec. You’re putting innocent people in jail, Alec Baldwin. Free Palestine Alec. Just one time, and I’ll leave you alone. I’ll leave you alone. I swear.”
Baldwin walked to the front door of the coffee shop, Maman on University Place in Manhattan, and told the person recording him to “get out now.” The person refused, despite someone else also telling them to leave. Baldwin then said to call the police.
“Fuck Israel,” the user continued. “Fuck Zionism, please say it.”
The video ended with the actor re-entering the coffee shop, asking the employee to do him a favor, and then seemingly slapping the phone out of the person’s hand as the image abruptly stops as Baldwin’s hand goes toward the lens.
The video comes amid increased pro-Palestine demonstrations across the country, including at Columbia University and New York University.
More than 100 protesters had camped out on Columbia’s green last week and were arrested, according to The Associated Press. Tensions continued at the university, as they locked campus gates for those who didn’t have student IDs and protests broke out on campus and outside. Classes at Columbia also went fully virtual following the growing protests.
An encampment also appeared at NYU and swelled to hundreds of protesters on Monday. The school warned the crowds to leave and eventually called the police when the scene became disorderly, including reports of “intimidating chants and several antisemitic incidents.”
Baldwin’s reps have not yet responded to THR‘s request for comment.