Alec Baldwin has spoken out regarding his tussle with a NY Daily News photographer on Tuesday, saying the photographer's reaction was blown out of proportion.
"There was a person in front of me, and he was blocking me, and the [photographer] lunged and he almost hit me in the teeth with the lens of the camera. So, I just pushed the guy away," the actor said on Wednesday's "CBS This Morning." "But of course [the paparazzi] make it like, they all - my favorite line is John Malkovich's. He said, 'They all scream like they're political prisoners.'"
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The incident took place outside of the Manhattan city clerk's office, where Alec and fiancée Hilaria Thomas had gone to obtain a marriage license - an area crowded with law enforcement officers.
"People think that I'm out there decking photographers willy nilly - nothing could be further from the truth," he said. "I mean, I'm in front of a courthouse, the place is crawling with cops. If I'm slugging a photographer out in front of a courthouse - I mean, I'm dumb, but I'm not that dumb. There must've been 10 cops right there on the block."
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The "30 Rock" star, 54, added that he's had previous run-ins with the photographer in question.
"This is a guy who'd baited me before, he'd camped in front of my house," he said.
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com , on Tuesday, photographer Marcus Santos filed a complaint with police accusing the "Rock of Ages" actor of punching him outside the city clerk's office.
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No charges had been filed, and Alec vehemently denied throwing any punches.
A statement on Tuesday from Alec's publicist accused the photographer of being the aggressor.
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As Baldwin and his fiancee were leaving, a person "walking in front of Alec positioned himself to obstruct the view of a photographer aggressively trying to shoot the couple," the statement said. "The photographer was clearly frustrated, pushed past the bystander and assaulted Alec with his camera. There were no punches thrown, and any subsequent physical contact was simply Alec protecting himself."
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