A video posted online Monday night appears to show actor Alec Baldwin slapping a phone out of a woman’s hand as she repeatedly demanded that he say “free Palestine” and heckled him about his ongoing manslaughter case.
The footage was posted on the X account of Crackhead Barney & Friends. “White devil Alec Baldwin attacked me While I was trying to get coffeee [sic]” a caption alongside the video read.
A publicist for Crackhead Barney—a performance artist and ambush interviewer known for her provocative social media videos—said the incident took place at around 4:45 p.m. on Monday in a Maman coffee shop in Greenwich Village.
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The footage appears to show the 66-year-old being accosted by the woman as he stands near the cash register.
“Alec can you please say ‘free Palestine’ one time?” she asks while Baldwin, holding a phone to his ear, ignores her. She then invoked his ongoing involuntary manslaughter case relating to the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust in 2021.
“Why did you kill that lady?” the woman asks Baldwin. “You killed that lady and got no jail time? No jail time, Alec? No jail time, Alec. You’re putting innocent people in jail, Alec Baldwin.” Baldwin has pleaded not guilty in the case, which is scheduled to go to trial in July.
A member of staff comes over and stands between the woman and Baldwin as Baldwin holds the coffee shop door open and tells her to get out. “Free Palestine, Alec, [say it] just one time and I’ll leave you alone,” she tells him. “I’ll leave you alone I swear. Just say ‘free Palestine’ one time.”
As she continues to harangue him, Baldwin asks the staff member to call the police. “You know he’s a criminal,” the woman says, referring to Baldwin, as the worker turns and walks off. “You know he’s a fucking criminal.” She then resumes her demands for Baldwin to say “free Palestine.”
Baldwin, visibly irritated, tells her “no.” “Fuck Israel,” the woman says. “Fuck Zionism. Please say it. One time.” At that point, Baldwin stops holding the door open, walks toward the woman, saying, “Could you do me one quick favor?” and then seemingly smacks the phone out of her hand.
Another video shared with The Daily Beast appears to show an earlier stage of the encounter, with Barney following Baldwin into the cafe and asking him to say “free Palestine.” “No, no, no, don’t do that in here,” Baldwin says. “This is a private business. You gotta go.” The actor also asks the staff for help and says “let’s call the police” before pulling out his phone.
The Daily Beast has contacted a lawyer representing Baldwin for comment.
“My performance art and confrontational media is a statement about the double standards of society in the U.S.,” Barney told The Daily Beast in a statement. “As the U.S. supports Israel in the genocide of Palestinians, here at home powerful people maintain a facade of politeness and dignity while we export death and terror around the world.”
Barney said she believes the “entertainment industry has been largely silent, and in some cases, even supportive of Israel’s genocide.” “This cannot stand, and people deserve to be confronted with the horrors our nation funds and supports,” her statement continued.
“I stand with the movement for Palestinian liberation and the end of the apartheid state of Israel as we know it. Free Palestine, end the occupation, end the settlements, and end U.S. imperialism.”
Israel rejects allegations that it is perpetrating a genocide in Gaza. The nation has denied as “baseless” an ongoing case brought against it under the Genocide Convention at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Baldwin has previously clashed with people over Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. In December, he got into a tense exchange with a protester accusing him of working “for Hollywood” and asking if he condemned Israel. “You’ve already got your mind made up… Because I’m in Hollywood? Well, you ask stupid questions. Ask me a smart question,” Baldwin snapped back.
