Alec Baldwin feuds with producer Dana Brunetti over Nikki Reed claims
Nikki Reed and Alec Baldwin in a scene from "Mini's First Time." Credit: First Independent Pictures/Everett Collection
The producer of a 2006 film starring Alec Baldwin and Nikki Reed as a stepfather and stepdaughter having an affair has denied Baldwin’s claim that the actor was not told his co-star was only 16 at the time.
“It’s a lie. … Of course he totally knew how old she was,” Dana Brunetti, whose films include the “Fifty Shades of Grey” series, told The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s why there’s no nudity in the movie,” the independent neo-noir “Mini’s First Time.” “He knew before we even cast the movie. I think he’s been method-acting [President Donald] Trump too much and he doesn’t know the difference between [real and fake] news anymore.”
In his just-published memoir “Nevertheless,” the Amityville-born and Massapequa-raised Baldwin, who turned 59 on Monday, wrote, “I was forty-seven, and it never occurred to me to ask how old Nikki Reed was. When I found out, just as we finished, that she was seventeen, I flipped out on the producers, who had told me something different.” Reed, who was born May 17, 1988, actually would have been 16 when the movie was filmed in October 2004, and Baldwin 46.
Fellow producer Evan Astrowsky told the trade paper, “What Alec says happened is not accurate. I completely corroborate that,” adding that, “We were on set every day. The thing that Alec must remember is that Mini, played by Nikki, is a sophomore in high school. I don’t know what else to say, except Alec, watch the movie. As for yelling at us after the movie, it absolutely never happened.”
The film’s writer and director, Nick Guthe, agreed that, “We all knew she was 16. When we discussed it at first, it was a question of meeting with her and making sure she was mature enough to handle the role.” He said that, “On the set, Nikki, being 16, would often speak quickly the way teenagers do, and Alec asked me about that at times because he had trouble understanding her, and I would remind him, ‘She’s 16.’ ”
The article prompted a Twitter feud, with “30 Rock” Emmy-winner Baldwin telling Brunetti that Screen Actors Guild rules “require releases for scenes involving physical contact with minors. I take you have a copy of that?” The producer responded, “If required, I’m sure there is one. But really, are you going to continue to deny that you didn’t know she was 16?? I’ll bury you.”
Baldwin replied, “I was told she was 16 by her hairdresser. At the end of the shoot. You’re already buried.”
The exchange then became increasingly vitriolic and descended into name-calling.
Reed has not commented on social media.
Meanwhile, Baldwin is also annoyed with his publisher, The Associated Press reports. The actor’s memoir “Nevertheless” came out this week and he shared some complaints in a Facebook posting. Baldwin wrote that the finished work had typos and other errors and complained that HarperCollins had failed “to do a proper and forensic edit.” He promised to compile a list of revisions, along with material that didn’t make it to print. One clarification, for those who wondered: When he said he was “in love” with Tina Fey and Kate McKinnon, he didn’t mean romantically. He is in love with their talent. HarperCollins declined to comment.
