A New York Police Department rep has confirmed that Alec Baldwin is being investigated for potential hate crime offences, after he allegedly referred to a New York Post photographer as a “coon.” Baldwin apparently also used an array of other offensive language, to GN Miller and reporter Tara Palmeri, when the incident occurred outside of his New York apartment. The NYPD rep told Fox 411 “Our hate crimes task force is reviewing the case.”

The New York Post have claimed that when their reporter and photographer approached Alec Baldwin - to ask him about his wife Hilaria Baldwin, who is pregnant and reports that she is being sued – Baldwin told Palmeri “I want to choke you to death and then uttered a racially abusive term at Miller, who is Africa American. Baldwin then referred to Miller as a “drug dealer” and a “crackhead.” Unfortunately for Baldwin, it appears that Palmeri recorded the incident on tape and has handed that evidence to the New York Police Department.

In an interview with KISS 95.1, Baldwin’s 30 Rock co-star Tracy Morgan said that Baldwin should apologize, if he did indeed use the phrases that he is accused of. “If he calls somebody a coon he should apologize,” Morgan told the radio’s listeners, adding “There’s no excuse for that. You’re in your 50s,” though he added that he was not sure if Baldwin had actually used the derogatory terms. 

Alec Baldwin & Hilaria

Alec Baldwin, pictured here with his wife Hilaria