Alec Baldwin returned to Saturday Night Live this week months after overcoming his involuntary manslaughter case, and the backlash against him was swift.
Baldwin, 66, broke down in tears when the case involving the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was dismissed in Santa Fe two months ago.
However, he seemed to be in great spirits as he took on the character of Fox News host Bret Baier, who recently interviewed Kamala Harris, played by Maya Rudolph.
The 17-time host even delivered the show’s proverbial punchline: “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
Many seemed to take issue with the appearance, which seemed to cast the returning star in a favorable light. Others rushed to his defense, even though the case against him was dismissed solely due to prosecutors’ mishandling of evidence.
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Alec Baldwin returned to Saturday Night Live last night, and the reaction was swift as his involuntary manslaughter charges were recently dropped.
Baldwin, 66, broke down in tears when the case involving the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins was dismissed in Santa Fe in July.
‘Why is Alec Baldwin allowed to appear on SNL? He shot and killed someone on the set of a movie,” one X user wrote, citing “safety compromises” that led to the fatal shooting of Hutchins on the set of Baldwin’s film Rust in October 2021.
“OMG a real killer jokingly talks about murder on #snl,” someone else criticized.
“Thank you for convincing the world what an idiot and out of touch you are.”
‘We know Alec Baldwin shot and killed someone, right?’ added another, years after the 30 Rock actor came under scrutiny for being the one who fired the gun.
After a sketch in which Baldwin and Rudolph relentlessly mocked Harris’ 27-minute interview, others similarly criticized the appearance as insensitive.
In the past, Baldwin has received criticism for his over-the-top portrayal of Donald Trump, which he chose to neglect during this outing.
Instead, the Republican was played by cast member James Austin Johnson, who sought to mock the former president’s recent town hall that collapsed into an impromptu music festival on Monday after two attendees fell ill.
However, he seemed to be in great spirits as he took on the character of a Fox News host who recently interviewed Kamala Harris, played by Maya Rudolph.
The pair delivered the show’s proverbial punchline: ‘Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!’
Meanwhile, Baldwin was the first face to appear on fans’ screens as the show began, and the live audience let out a scream to express their surprise.
Baldwin, like Baier, proceeded to embark on a seemingly rude interrogation of Rudolph’s version of the vice president, echoing criticism of the interview that aired on Fox News a few days earlier.
The parody also mocked a moment that Baier would later admit was a mistake: a transition to the wrong clip of a Trump response.
This allowed ‘SNL’ to incorporate several mini-parodies such as Dana Carvey as President Joe Biden before returning to Baldwin and Rudolph.
The pair then introduced the episode with the famous catchphrase and Baldwin did not appear again throughout the show.
Baldwin made her first return to the show following last year’s fatal shooting alongside then-host Timothée Chalamet in a surprise appearance for the show’s customary finale farewell.
As was the case this time, it did not address the litigation surrounding Hutchins’ death.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was a mother of one and a promising cinematographer when she was shot and killed on the set of ‘Rust.’
Film set gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed poses for a mugshot after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Baldwin holds his wife Hilaria’s hand as he leaves court in July, moments after a judge dismissed his involuntary manslaughter case.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 26, the gunsmith on the set of Rust, was found guilty of manslaughter earlier this year and jailed for 18 months, a sentence Baldwin would have faced if convicted.
Meanwhile, Baldwin’s case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning prosecutors were unable to bring the same charges against him in the case and the trial was permanently dismissed.
New Mexico prosecutors had tried to show that the actor’s behavior on the tragic set contributed to the “safety compromises” that led to the incident, but failed due to errors in the handling of evidence that, according to a judge, “affected the fundamental fairness of the process.” case’.
However, Hutchins’ widow and father of his son, Matthew Hutchins, has stated that she hopes Baldwin will remain responsible for his actions.
Baldwin and Rudolph were parodying the vice president’s Fox News interview that aired earlier this week (pictured)
Baldwin, meanwhile, is by far SNL’s most prolific host, having played the role 17 times.
He first appeared on the show in 1990, and went on to steal scenes in iconic sketches such as those surrounding Schweddy Balls and Bill Brasky.
He holds the record for most episodes featured, with his last work coming in 2017, several years before the Rust shooting.