Alec Baldwin on the ‘Rust’ tragedy
Some people want to enrich themselves
Alec Baldwin continues to deny responsibility for Halyna Hutchins’ death.
© imago / ZUMA Wire
Alec Baldwin has gone on the offensive against plaintiffs who have accused him of responsibility in the death of Rust director of photography Halyna Hutchins.
Actor Alec Baldwin (63) spoke at the Boulder International Film Festival in the US state of Colorado about the lawsuits that are currently being filed against him and other producers of the film “Rust”. According to “CNN”, he once again clearly emphasized thisthat he does not see himself responsible for the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins (1979-2021), even if he fired the ultimately fatal shot.
Rather, Baldwin went on the offensive, saying that he thought there were people who would try to capitalize on the tragedy. “There’s a certain group of people, litigants and so on, […] their attitude is, ‘The people who are most likely to be negligent have no money. But the people with money didn’t act negligently.” And yet attempts have been made since then to blame them.
Specifically, Baldwin mentioned the weapons experts who would actually have been responsible for security on the set. When two security officers hand you a gun that says it’s safe, “I assume the gun is safe,” Baldwin said. Although he didn’t mention their names, he could only really mean David Halls and Hannah Gutierrez Reed. Assistant director Halls handed the gun to the Baldwin investigation. Gutierrez Reed was the weapons master on the “Rust” set and in turn sued the film’s props supplier.
Everyone denies the blame
But Gutierrez Reed also made allegations against lead actor Baldwin in her lawsuit. On October 15, shortly before the incident, he did not respond to her request to practice the so-called “crossdraw”, i.e. drawing the weapon crosswise. However, it is precisely during this maneuver by Baldwin that the shot that killed Hutchins is said to have gone off.
Previously, Rust’s chief lighting engineer Serge Svetnoy and script supervisor Mamie Mitchell had filed civil suits against Baldwin. And Hutchin’s survivors are now taking legal action against the star. Baldwin’s lawsuit alleges “reckless” behavior. Widower Matthew Hutchins also said in a TV interview: “The idea that the person holding the gun and triggering it is not responsible is absurd to me.”