A Hollywood producer has accused Alec Baldwin of lying in his new memoir, claiming the actor was well aware that Nikki Reed, his costar in the R-rated 2006 indie film Mini’s First Time, was underage while filming.
In the movie, Baldwin played a man having an affair with his step-daughter, played by Reed.
“I was 47, and it never occurred to me to ask how old Nikki Reed was,” Baldwin wrote in Nevertheless, released Tuesday. “When I found out, just as we finished, that she was 17, I flipped out on the producers, who had told me something different.”
On Tuesday, producer Dana Brunetti, who has worked on the Fifty Shades franchise and House of Cards, accused Baldwin knowing the actress was 16 (not 17, as he wrote in the autobiography) in a series of tweets.
“My first indie film was Mini’s starring @AlecBaldwin who knew @NikkiReed_I_Am was 16 (not 17) and he didn’t mind,” said Brunetti. “In fact (Reed) was one of four actresses (Baldwin) had approved and her being the only one of those four repped by his own agency CAA.”
(1) My first indie film was Mini's starring @AlecBaldwin who knew @NikkiReed_I_Am was 16 (not 17) and he didn't mind https://t.co/aZ3KyeIiyC
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
(2) in fact @NikkiReed_I_Am was 1 of 4 actresses @AlecBaldwin had approved and her being the only 1 of those 4 repped by HIS own agency CAA.
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
(3) the only time @AlecBaldwin ever yelled at me was on the phone and it was about one of the producers who worked with the financier.
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
(4) The films director @NickGuthe said "We liked the idea that b/c it meant we couldn't be pressured into shooting scenes w/nudity"
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
(5) continued… "which was a real issue with the subject matter and the rather unusual cast of character we were dealing with."
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
(6) but to @AlecBaldwin's benefit, he has been impersonating Trump a lot, so maybe there was a bit of method acting when writing his book?
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
(7) And I have just received 3 other message from crew and other producer stating that he knew how old @NikkiReed_I_Am was during filming.
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
(8) if @AlecBaldwin had simply said in his book he didn't know @NikkiReed_I_Am's age, I would let it go.
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
(9) however to say that when he found out after filming he yelled at the producers (I being 1 on the film) makes it out to seem we did wrong
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
(10) So to summarize, @AlecBaldwin knew NikkiReed_I_Am was 16, didn't find out AFTER filming, and did not yell at us.
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
(11) UNLESS @AlecBaldwin saw @KevinSpacey some event after and yelled at him?? Though that would be wrong too, because again, Alec knew.
— Dana Brunetti (@DanaBrunetti) April 5, 2017
“It’s a lie,” Brunetti also told The Hollywood Reporter of Baldwin’s claim. “I read it and was like, ‘What the f—. Of course he totally knew how old she was. That’s why there’s no nudity in the movie. He knew before we even cast the movie. I think he’s been method acting Trump too much and he doesn’t know difference between fake news anymore.”
A rep for Baldwin did not comment.
Evan Astrowsky, another producer on Mini’s First Time, claimed to THR that Baldwin lied about having an altercation with the producers.
“What Alec says happened is not accurate. I completely corroborate that,” Astrowsky said. “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.”
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1) I loved working w/ @AlecBaldwin on Mini's First Time, but we all knew @NikkiReed_I_Am was 16, during filming. Perhaps this will finally..
— Nick Guthe (@NickGuthe) April 5, 2017
Nick Guthe, the film’s director, also backed up Brunetti’s claims on Twitter, writing that everyone on set knew Reed was 16 at the time.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, nudity for the underage actress would not have been approved because of the movie’s risqué sex scenes, although Toni Casala of the website ChildreninFilm.com previously told E! News that underage actors are typically not permitted to perform such scenes.
Brunetti posted on Twitter that Nick Guthe actually “liked the idea” of the actress being underage because “it meant we couldn’t be pressured into shooting scenes with nudity, which was a real issue with the subject matter and the rather unusual cast of characters we were dealing with.”