Hilaria Baldwin Says Family Would 'Crumble' Without Fan Support After Alec's Criminal Charges

Hilaria Baldwin is speaking out after the announcement that her husband Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the October 2021 on-set death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

In the latest episode of her podcast Witches Anonymous published on Sunday, the mother of seven opened up about the support her family has received in the wake of the news.

"It's been an emotional time for my family and I do so want to express to you how grateful I am for your support and your kindness and your reason," she said. "Quite honestly, without it, we would crumble. So thank you so much for being our rock right now because I don't feel so strong."

The show then transitioned to a conversation with Dr. Hillary Goldsher, with the two and podcast co-host Michelle Campbell Mason discussing "parenting through challenging times and how to take care of not only your kids but yourself during them."

"Kids are sponges and certain conversations are not always age-appropriate; we cannot deny that they don't feel the energy and pick up on certain things in the family," Hilaria said, later noting that she wants "everything to be sunshine and rainbows all the time" for their children.

"And one of the things that I really appreciated that Dr. Goldsher told us [is] sometimes teaching them not to be afraid of the emotion and the pain and not afraid of going through hard times. That actually is such a gift because it's going to teach them to be resilient and understand that feelings are temporary and better times are going to come again," she added.

Hilaria also spoke about the importance of "seeing humanity in other people and understanding that they may be going through something as well, and so being kind, being patient and being good friends to as many people as we can."

She ended the podcast episode by once again thanking listeners "for all of your kindness and support."

Earlier this month, Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Andrea Reeb announced that Alec, 64, and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will both be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The charges will be formally filed before the end of the month.

No charges will be filed related to the shooting of Rust director Joel Souza, who was injured in the incident.

In a statement to PEOPLE Thursday, Alec's attorney Luke Nikas of Quinn Emanuel said, "This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins' tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice."

"Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set," Nikas added. "He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds."

"We will fight these charges, and we will win," the attorney concluded.

In October, Alec and other Rust producers settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Hutchins' widower Matthew. Along with the settlement, the team agreed to complete the movie with Matthew now on board as an executive producer. Production on Rust was said to resume this month.

Alec and Hilaria got married in 2012 and share seven children: sons Eduardo "Edu" Pao Lucas, 2, Romeo Alejandro David, 4½, Leonardo Ángel Charles, 6, and Rafael Thomas, 7½ , plus daughters Ilaria Catalina Irena, 4 months, Maria Lucia Victoria, 2 next month, and Carmen Gabriela, 9.

In December 2022, Hilaria told Extra that she worries about Alec, one year after Hutchins' on-set death during production on Rust.

She went on to say the Oct. 21, 2021, incident — during which Alec held a prop gun that discharged and killed 42-year-old Hutchins on the set of his Western movie — weighs heavy on their family. (Alec maintains that he did not pull the trigger.)

"I worry about him," she said at the time. "… I mean, can you imagine? Nobody can. There was so much confusion to understand what had happened."

"When you go through something hard, you know not every day is going to be the same," continued Hilaria. "You have moments in the day that are very hard. Nights are hard. Nightmares are hard. So I'm just there, and I say, 'I'm here and I'm going to take care of you,' and I said that from the moment we realized what had happened."