BREAKING: Fallen Wyoming Marine Family’s Lawsuit Against Alec Baldwin Thrown Out
A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed against Alec Baldwin brought by the family of a fallen Wyoming Marine.
US District Court Judge Nancy Freudenthal issued the order Wednesday morning.
Freudenthal cited a motion filed by Baldwin's attorneys stating that a court in Wyoming does not have jurisdiction to hear the case as Baldwin is not a Wyoming resident, nor were his actions aimed at Wyoming.
Marine Lance Corporal Rylee McCollum was killed in an attack in Afghanistan in August. Shortly after, Baldwin donated $5,000 to a GoFundMe intended to aid McCollum's widow, Jiennah McCollum and their then-unborn child.
Roice McCollum, one of McCollum's sisters, established the GoFundMe.
In January, Roice McCollum posted pictures to Instagram of herself at the US Capitol at the time of the January 6, 2021 riots. McCollum saw the post and messaged her asking if she was the same person he donated $5,000 to. A dispute ensued in which Baldwin accused Roice McCollum of being an insurrectionist.
Baldwin posted a screenshot of McCollum's post regarding being at the Capitol on January 6. Baldwin's followers began sending her threatening and derogatory messages not long after, the initial complaint in the lawsuit states.
In the weeks following, Jiennah, Joleen McCollum and Cheyenne McCollum filed a federal lawsuit claiming that Baldwin's actions on social media had subjected their family to emotional harm and incessant harassment and threats. The McCollums sought $25 million.
"The only factual allegations relating to Mr. Baldwin's intentional actions are the few private Instagram messages he sent to Roice McCollum, and the post on his own Instagram feed. Mr. Baldwin's public post on his own Instagram feed cannot reasonably be considered expressly aimed at Wyoming given Mr. Baldwin's '2.4 million Instagram followers," Freudenthal wrote.
The suit was dismissed without prejudice, meaning the McCollums could refile.
This post will be updated.
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