"My reputation was destroyed and my self-esteem eroded," Geneviève Sabourin tells Huffington Post Québec as she kicks of a media blitz.
The 40-year-old actress from Quebec was arrested April 8th in front of American actor Alec Baldwin's luxurious home in New York. She now faces five charges, including two for aggravated harassment. Sabourin met the '30 Rock' star about ten years ago on the set of 'The Adventures of Pluto Nash,' where she worked as a publicist.
Sabourin asserts she then begun a romantic relationship with Baldwin. In the indictment filed after her arrest last spring, U.S. prosecutors claim that Sabourin sent a series of emails to the actor, begging him to marry her. After a failed attempt to settle the case out of court, she will stand trial starting November 27th.
At her mother's house on Montreal's South Shore where she is visiting for a week, Sabourin says it has been a living hell for her since her 36-hour incarceration in New York.
"I was stoned in the public square," she says. "They said I was crazy."
In the days after her arrest, U.S. newspapers covered the story extensively. The New York Post even published a front page photo of her with the headline: "Stalker-In-Chief."
"I always had many dreams, but this incident stopped everything," she says. "My life is on hold. I am not the same person anymore."
"Exile" In New-York
Since her arrest, Sabourin has lived in New York in order to be able to meet with her American lawyer on a regular basis and attend her hearings.
"At first, I tried to work with my lawyer over the phone from Quebec, but it was counter-productive," she says.
She confirms she has spent more than $100,000 since her arrest, including costs for her furnished apartment in New York, plane tickets, car trips between the Big Apple and Montreal and travel insurance. She also spent $5,000 for a psychological profile conducted by a psychiatrist in preparation for her defense.
"In the papers, they said I was crazy, that I was a stalker," she recalls. "So in our process to settle the case out of court, we presented an eminent psychiatrist's report that showed I had no personality disorder."
During that period, she was forbidden from obtaining employment in the United States.
"I tried to get my papers to be able to work over there," she explains, "even if it meant to be a waitress in a restaurant. It was impossible."
Sabourin, who had sold her house prior to the incident in the hope of moving to New York then had to scrape her savings. Relatives also had to help her financially.
During all these setbacks, it's the loneliness that affects Sabourin the most.
"I am living a kind of exile in New York, far from my family and friends" the actress says. She says some of her family members and friends have distanced themselves from her since the incident.
Media Blitz
After remaining silent throughout the summer, Sabourin will begin a media blitz starting Thursday evening. She will first give an interview to Denis Lévesque on Quebec's LCN channel. She will address the legal aspects of her case there with her Montreal lawyer Jean-Pierre Rancourt. The Quebecor Group will then resume the interview in its papers. Sabourin will also be the guest of Isabelle Racicot on the TV show "Ça finit bien la semaine" ('The Week Ends Well'), broadcasted on TVA and also on "Face à Face" on V network. She will also give some interviews to U.S. media.
When she was questioned on the reasons of this media blitz, Sabourin replied she would have preferred settling the case out of court. A judge however rejected this request.
"I'm being pushed to the wall, I have no more options," she says. She adds that she never wished to see her story played out in the media.
"I am a very private person," she says, "I find it very humiliating to tell all my personal stories in public."
After her misadventure with Baldwin, Sabourin doesn't think she will be able to pursue her acting career in film. The actress was seen in a few supporting roles in Quebec, such as a "shooter girl" in the TV series C.A.
"Here or elsewhere, my reputation is destroyed," she says. "I will never be able to work again, not here, not in the United States or in France. My professional reputation is ruined."
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