One of the lawsuits against Alec Baldwin has been dismissed. Photo / Getty Images
One of the lawsuits against Alec Baldwin has been dismissed. Photo / Getty Images
A defamation lawsuit filed against Alec Baldwin has been dismissed.
The actor was being sued by the family of Rylee McCollum - who was aged just 20 when he was one of 13 marines killed in Afghanistan on 26 August, 2021 - after allegedly accusing his sister Roice McCollum of participating in the riots at the Capitol Building in Washington, DC, earlier that year.
However, on May 4, a judge in Wyoming granted Baldwin's motion to dismiss "for lack of personal jurisdiction".
The order stated: "The Court finds and concludes that the McCollums have failed to meet their burden of proof in showing that this Court may properly exercise personal jurisdiction over Mr Baldwin."
The case cannot be reopened or refiled because it was dismissed without prejudice and the 64-year-old star and his team are "pleased" with the ruling.
His attorney, Luke Nikas, said: "We are pleased with this victory. This is a significant step toward the complete dismissal of the lawsuit, which seeks to punish Mr Baldwin for expressing his political opinion."
It was previously claimed Baldwin had tracked down McCollum on Instagram and sent her a cheque for US$5000 ($7800) to pass on to Rylee's widow, Jiennah Crayton, and their baby after hearing about the marine's tragic death while trying to help evacuate people out of Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover.
But In January, he allegedly accused the woman of being part of the Capitol riots the previous year, and court documents claimed Alec called her an "insurrectionish" and a "Jan. 6 rioter" in a private message to Instagram after Roice shared a photo she had taken at the Washington Monument on January 6, 2021.
One of the lawsuits against Alec Baldwin has been dismissed. Photo / Getty Images
He is said to have commented: "Are you the same woman I sent the $ for your sister's husband who was killed during the Afghanistan exit?
"When I sent the $ for your late brother, out of real respect for his service to this country, I didn't know you were a January 6th rioter."
The former 30 Rock star allegedly reposted her photos from the protest on his own account and told McCollum: "I reposted your photo. Good luck."
Although the woman admitted she had attended the protest, she insisted she didn't participate in the riots and had been cleared after speaking to the FBI.
She alleged she, her sister Cheyenne and sister-in-law Jiennah had been subjected to "hostile, aggressive, hateful" messages on social media, and slammed Alec's comments as "false, outrageous, defamatory, irresponsible, vindictive".
She and her family members were seeking at least US$25 million ($39m) in damages for defamation, invasion of privacy, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
