With Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter case springing from the sets of Rust being dismissed, here’s taking a look at actors who have had serious run-ins with the law

In October 2021, Alec Baldwin’s world turned upside down. Rehearsals for a scene in the now-erstwhile Western flick Rust, turned bloody when what was supposed to be an unloaded gun ended up firing a shot which took cinematographer Hayla Hutchins life and injured director Joel Souza. What ensued was a continuous shifting of blame between Alec and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the latter being the armorer on the sets of the film, also entrusted with overseeing the firearms on set.

Alec Baldwin, Robert Downey Jr, Johnny Depp: Actors who have had serious run-ins with the law(X)

Both were charged with involuntary manslaughter in January 2023 with Hannah also being convicted of the charge in March 2024. However, she was acquitted soon enough on a charge of tampering with evidence.

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Alec was slapped with a new involuntary manslaughter charge in January 2024 and went to trial in July. The case however, stood officially dismissed by New Mexico judge Mary Marlowe Sommer a mere few days in. This was motivated by the defense’s argument that the prosecutors hid evidence from them about ammunition on the sets, evidence which could very well be related to the shooting. With Alec presumably free to walk, let’s take a look at other Hollywood actors who have had rather serious brushes with law.

Robert Downey Jr

Being in front of the camera wasn’t all that new to a young Robert Downey Jr, considering he had made his acting debut way back when he was all of 5 years old. However, his early year’s in the industry stood significantly marred with drug abuse and erratic behaviour. In June 1996, the Iron Man-to-be was arrested for the possession of heroin, cocaine, crack, and an unloaded handgun, while he was speeding down Sunset Boulevard.

After multiple such run-ins coupled with his unwillingness to comply with the law, he was sentenced in 1999 to 3 years in prison. He was subsequently let out in August 2000 following which he suffered another relapse with cocaine. RDJ eventually decided to get his life back together, checking into rehab. What commenced was one of the strongest real-life redemption arcs of a public figure. The actor makes for a shining example of what second (and third) chances can do for one, given they are committed enough. The actor won his first Academy Award this year for Oppenheimer, celebrating one of his most keynote roles across his acting career.

Ezra Miller

Ezra Miller was on the cusp of establishing quite the exciting Hollywood career, what with his titular work as Flash coupled with other projects like the Fantastic Beasts franchise. All of this stood marred by repeated resurgences of his violent side in the public eye. As if choking a woman in a bar (2020) or his Hawaii arrests (2022) were already not enough, the fact that he purposefully evaded the police endlessly as they attempted to serve him a notice, was the final blow.

Ezra at the time, was being accused of grooming an 18-year old activist, Tokata Iron Eyes. The two has reportedly met back in 2016 when Ezra was 23 and Tokata was all of 12. Legal documents further allege, “Ezra uses violence, intimidation, threat of violence, fear, paranoia, delusions, and drugs to hold sway over a young adolescent Tokata”. The actor’s antics were further described as “cult-like and psychologically manipulative, controlling behavior”. Though Ezra was not dropped from the Flash movie, his career appears to be almost entirely halted. In August 2022, Ezra revealed that they were seeking mental health treatment.

Mark Wahlberg

After RDJ, Mark Wahlberg makes for a shining example of heartening redemption arcs. The year was 1988 and Mark was 16 years of age. He was arrested for assaulting a man by the name of Johnny Trinh. He was charged with assault and battery with a deadly weapon and possession of a controlled substance. He served half of his sentence and came out a reformed man. As a matter of fact, Trinh has even publicly forgiven the actor for the incident. Mark went on to debut in films in 1993 and hasn’t looked back since then.

Mark Wahlberg

Special mention: Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp met co-star and future wife Amber Heard in 2009. The much-in-love couple tied the knot in February 2015. The marriage was short-lived but that wasn’t the biggest crater in Johnny and Amber’s catatonic relationship. Though she had accused him of physical abuse while filing for divorce in 2016, The Washington Post op-ed, dated 2018, in which she labelled him as a “wife beater” sparked arguably one of the most filthy public trials of recent times. While the initial bout of defamation and libel rounds in the UK saw Johnny on a serious backfooting, the 2022 trial entirely flipped the table on Amber.

Johnny Depp

While Amber’s side of the story was known, Johnny’s accounts of violence he sustained at the hands of his ex-wife, arguably became the most fed-on social media fodder for the year. Though the ‘crimes’ involved in the nail-biting Depp-Heard trial make up an entirely different profile than the aforementioned instances, it still counts as one of the most ruthless trials by (social) media, a rather common occurrence when it comes to cases involving celebrities.

Circling back to Alec Baldwin, news of his case being dismissed saw the actor break down into tears as he hugged his attorneys. He went on to hold his wife Hilaria Baldwin in a long embrace before exiting the Santa Fe court.

He is yet to verbally address the development.