Young and the Restless Star Eric Braeden Defends Alec Baldwin

Eric Braeden is best known to soap fans as Victor Newman on Young and the Restless, but he’s been an actor for over 60 years. The opinionated performer has done many action projects and now, he’s weighing in on actor Alec Baldwin, who’s currently on trial for involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico.

Braeden Weighs In

Baldwin is facing charges that he is responsible for the October 2021 death of Halyna Hutchins, who died after being struck by a bullet on the set of Rust, an independent feature in which Baldwin was starring and served as producer. Somehow, a real bullet was placed in the gun’s chamber, and Hutchins, the film’s cinematographer, was killed.

Braeden, however, a veteran producer and actor, offers some reasons why he believes Baldwin shouldn’t be blamed for this tragedy. “Hi, I’m Eric Braeden, and I listen to the news,” the actor began in an Instagram video, which can be seen below, that appears to have been shot in the backyard of his Los Angeles home.

“We know that Alec Baldwin is on trial for involuntary manslaughter,” Braeden continued. “Obviously, I’ve been following this from the beginning. I’m actually outraged that it has come to this. I’ve been an actor since 1962 have been on more shows with guns, use more guns in the various guest roles.”

Braeden believes that it’s not the actor’s job to see if the gun is loaded or not. “The prop person — man or woman — comes to you,” he explains, “This has been the case for over 60 years with me…The magazine is empty, the barrels empty only then. And the assistant director is usually there.”

Braeden believes that once all the proper safety settings have been gone over, there should be no problem. “Fine. Boom. Satisfied,” he says. “That apparently was not done. So, to hold [Baldwin] responsible is simply unrealistic, totally unfair in the sense that an actor that’s the last thing you think about.”

Braeden says that because he’s done so many action movies and series, including Rat Patrol, he “learned to think about it…it is incumbent of the a.d. [assistant director] and the property person — or armorer — to make sure the actor has seen the [gun] is not loaded…that there’s not even one bullet left. Otherwise, you play Russian Roulette.

“End of story,” Braeden added. “It does not lie in the hands of the executive producer or a co-producer. [Those titles] mean nothing. Those are ceremonial titles that you give to actors who don’t get paid enough.”

Baldwin was once on The Doctors as Billy Aldrich, but Braeden says he only knows him peripherally. “[He] has always been a very nice man, and I am certain he’s not used to playing with too many guns,” Braeden points out. “I hope that the jury will understand that and see that and exonerate him.”

Braeden directly addressed Baldwin as his video wrapped up by telling him, “Good luck to you, my man. You’re a good man. Be cool, brother.”

In addition to his role on The Doctors, Baldwin is known for his turn on Knots Landing as Joshua Rush. His other credits include Dress Gray, The Alamo: Thirteen Days to Glory, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Shadow, Friends, 30 Rock, and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation.

Baldwin scored a recent victory throughout this legal process. Deadline reported that a judge ruled that his role as “co-producer” on the film cannot be entered as evidence at his trial, which began on July 9.