Eric Braeden’s Shocking Opinion on ‘Y&R’ Manslaughter Case

Alec Baldwin broke down in court on Friday after a New Mexico judge dismissed the manslaughter case against the actor. The prosecutor was found to be withholding key evidence, which led to the dismissal and the prosecutor’s swift resignation. People on the internet have been weighing in on what happened, including The Young & The Restless star Eric Braeden. What did he have to say? Keep reading to find out.

Surprisingly, Eric Braeden jumped to Alec Baldwin’s defense in the entire ordeal. The Y&R star shared his thoughts in a video on Instagram.

In the clip, he shared that he’s been following the court case since the very beginning. “I’m actually outraged that it has come to this,” the soap star said in the video, before sharing that he’s been acting since 1962.

“I’ve been on more sets with guns — used more guns in the various guest-starring roles I’ve played, always as the bad guy — so I know d*mn well that as actors, we are not responsible for whether the damn gun is loaded or not,” he said.

Then, he provided some context for people who haven’t been on set. “The prop person comes to you,” he said. “This has been the case for over 60 years for me.”

Eric Braeden said that holding Alec Baldwin responsible is “simply unrealistic, totally unfair, in the sense, that as an actor, that’s the last thing you think about.”

The Young & The Restless star also pointed out that Alec hadn’t been in a lot of action movies. Only an actor who has been around those types of props would ever be thinking about it, he claimed in his post.

“It is incumbent upon the [assistant director] and the prop person to make sure the actor has seen that the gun is not loaded, that there’s not even one bullet left,” he continued in the clip. “Otherwise you’ll play Russian Roulette.”

He continued, saying that Alec Baldwin was likely assured that there was no bullet in the gun when he was given it. “Why the hell would he otherwise take it? Are you nuts?” Eric Braeden asked in his video.

In the end, Eric said that the responsibility lies with the assistant director, and “maybe a producer (and) and armorer.”

Alec Baldwin’s trial started on Wednesday, July 10. In 2021, the esteemed actor discharged a prop revolver that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Director Joel Souza was also injured in the incident.

In January 2023, Alec was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. However, those charges were dropped four months later. Then, in January 2024, he was indicted again on involuntary manslaughter charges.

Since the beginning, the actor has maintained his innocence. He said that he was under the impression that he was using a prop gun with fake bullets.

The armorer on set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, loaded a live round into the firearm earlier in the day. She was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March 2024. Hannah was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Now, the case against Alec Baldwin has been dismissed with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be brought back to trial.

Source: TV Shows Ace