Alec Baldwin has faced derision and criticism online after posting multiple videos in which he asked fans to follow his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, to help her hit a one million follower target on Instagram.
On January 5—the day before his wife's 39th birthday—the 30 Rock star, 64, posted the first of four videos in his campaign to boost her follower count on the popular image-sharing platform.
"I would like as many of you as possible, I would like a really great, great surge of people to follow my wife on Instagram to say 'happy birthday' to my wife," said Alec Baldwin in the first self-shot clip.
"Would you do that for me?" the screen star asked his followers. "Would you follow my wife on Instagram? Please?"
Calling yoga instructor Hilaria Baldwin his "favorite person," Baldwin told his followers that his wife was "just centimeters shy of a million followers" on the app.
"As a birthday gift, or even just a gesture to my wife, would you follow her on Instagram?" he said in his plea to fans.
Alec Baldwin, who has seven children with his wife, also drafted in some help from his 9-year-old daughter, Carmen, who said in a video posted on his account: "Follow my mom on Instagram—please and thank you."
Before taking his wife out to dinner with friends on her actual birthday, Alec Baldwin, who currently has more than 2.5 million Instagram followers, unveiled yet another video asking for fans to sign up.
"Thank you for all you people who signed on and followed my wife," he said. "We're getting close. We're not that far from helping her cross the line to a million followers."
"Hilaria is somebody who her social media is a big part of her platform in terms of her promotion of her work and her podcast and other things she's doing," added the Saturday Night Live regular.
He went on to dispute accusations on social media that he was "begging" people to follow his wife, saying: "Well, I don't think I'm begging people, but I am hopeful that people will do this as a little silly gift to my wife, who's always made very good use of social media."
The milestone was eventually reached, and Alec Baldwin on January 7 shared a photo of a handwritten note that read: "Many thanks to everyone who helped get my wife to 1 million followers."
However, the reaction was not particularly enthusiastic, with a number of Instagram users questioning the importance on his tireless campaign to boost his wife's follower tally.
"One million followers is what's important on a birthday?? Give me a break," wrote one detractor.
"Hope she is living a better life now—we all pray for her to get to 2 mil," quipped another.
"I mean, there are people hungry and living on the streets in arctic temperatures but ok," said another. "Good job on your wife's million followers."
Meanwhile, another referenced Massachusetts native Hilaria Baldwin being accused of falsely claiming to have been from Spain, commenting: "Does it get her closer to really being Spanish?"
The Baldwins, who wed in 2012, have seven children together, including daughters Carmen Gabriela, 9, and María Lucía Victoria, 23 months, and sons Rafael Thomas, 7; Leonardo Ángel Charles, 6; Romeo Alejandro David, 4, and Eduardo Pao Lucas, 2.
They welcomed daughter Ilaria in September, and Alec Baldwin is also father to model Ireland Baldwin, 27, with ex-wife Kim Basinger.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
