EXCLUSIVE DETAILS: Desperate for Cash Alec Baldwin Reduced to Begging For Personal Appearance Fees — After His Reality Show is Slammed as 'Cynical Money-Grab' by Family of 'Rust' Shooting Victim Halyna Hutchins

Alec Baldwin surprised fans when he agreed to host the star-studded reopening night party at New York's Planet Hollywood.

But RadarOnline.com can reveal the desperate for cash actor couldn't turn down the gig – or its rumored high paycheck – even if he had wanted to.

Planet Hollywood, once the Hard Rock Cafe of the movie world, was forced to close its Times Square location during COVID. Five years and $17million later, the restaurant has reopened at a new location on famed 42nd St.

Last week, the venue hosted a huge party featuring a DJ set from Boy George and an appearance by rapper 50 Cent. Celebs like Pete Davidson, Whoopi Goldberg, and Arnold Schwarzenegger all showed up for the event.

Baldwin, 66, served as the "host" of the night, but where the other stars were there as guests, the 30 Rock actor was there to cash in, as he's still trying to find ways to pay for his costly legal battle after the Rust set shooting.

A Hollywood insider told NewsNation: "It was just odd. Alec Baldwin? He would never do that before (the Rust shooting). He was an A-List Hollywood actor."

Baldwin faced involuntary manslaughter charges over the 2021 death of Halyna Hutchins – who was killed on the set of his Western flick Rust when a prop gun fired a live round.

The case was ultimately dismissed when a New Mexico judge ruled prosecutors failed to share key evidence with the star's defense team, but Baldwin is still paying the price – both personally and monetarily.

Now, in his latest bid to try to earn back his celebrity status and lifestyle, he's forced to accept personal appearance fees from venues and events.

The NewsNation source said the Planet Hollywood organizers would have had to shell out some big bucks to entice Baldwin to make it through the night: "For someone of Alec’s caliber, it would cost a minimum of $500,000 for him to host, but possibly even more as he hosted it and therefore would have had to stay all night.

"They’re horse-trading on his name, so they’d have to pay big money. Nobody does an event like that for free. They all get an appearance fee."

As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Baldwin's new reality show has been slammed as nothing but a cynical money grab by attorneys representing Rust shooting victim Hutchins.

During the premier episode of TLC's The Baldwins, the Beetlejuice star dramatically broke down in tears and covered his face in front of wife Hilaria, 41, while expressing his gratitude for her and their seven young children in the aftermath of the tragedy.

However, attorneys Gloria Allred, John Carpenter, Carlos Hernandez, and Alina Vulic, who represent Hutchins' family, say the only thing real about the show is how much money Baldwin will make from it.

Insiders revealed Baldwin was seeking a minimum of $300,000 per episode for his appearances in the show. With the series confirmed for eight episodes, his earnings alone could potentially hit $2.4million for the season.

In a statement to Radar, Hutchins' lawyers claimed the movie star is trying to make himself seem like the victim: "Baldwin has compounded the pain of Halyna’s parents and sister by taking advantage of his increased fame and notoriety by monetizing it in a TLC reality show."

The lawyers further claim the show ignored the pain of the surviving family members, rendering them effectively "invisible."

The statement continued: "(Baldwin) entered into a money-making deal with TLC," and added: "Alec does not acknowledge the need to be accountable to (the parents) for killing their daughter and he shamefully ignores the fact that, as a result of his disregard of gun safety protocols on the set of Rust, Halyna will never be in the arms of her family, laughing and smiling again."