Kill Rust The family of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins have announced plans to take legal action against Alec Baldwin after prosecutors dropped criminal charges against him last week.
In 2021, while the Rust the crew filmed a scene set in a church, Baldwin was practicing firing his prop gun when the gun discharged, killing Hutchins. The actor has always maintained that he didn’t pull the trigger and instead the gun missed. Before Thursday’s news that the manslaughter charges against him had been dropped, Baldwin faced a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison.
Lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents Hutchins’ parents and sister (mother Olga Solovey, father Anatolii Androsovych and sister Svetlana Zemko) did not mince words in a statement provided to Deadline.
“Mr. Baldwin can claim he is not responsible for pulling the trigger and ejecting a live round that ended Halyna’s life,” Allred said. “He can run to Montana and pretend he’s just an actor in a Wild West movie, but in real life he can’t escape the fact that he played a major role in a tragedy that had real consequences.”
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
VIA REUTERS
Deadline reports that Baldwin’s lawyers called the planned trial of Hutchins’ family members “misguided” and suggested it would not hold up. Prosecutors are now focusing on Rust gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was 24 at the time of the crash and still faces two counts of manslaughter.
Following the fatal incident, sources who had worked with Reed told The Daily Beast that Gutierrez-Reed was “inexperienced and green” and that her handling of firearms on the set of the Nicolas Cage film The old way seemed “a little careless”. The accident also sparked a wider discussion about the oversight of independent film sets.
Manufacturing on Rust resumed last week, as stipulated by a settlement between Baldwin and Hutchins’ widower, Matthew Hutchins. CNN reports that a stipulation was for Matthew to become an appointed executive producer. The production will not refilm the church scene which was in progress at the time of filming.
On Friday, a day after the criminal charges against Baldwin were dropped, TMZ released photos from the set, in which Baldwin can be seen handling a shotgun. According Deadline, Rust Director and producer Joel D’Souza – who was also injured in the 2021 shooting – said no “working firearms” or ammunition were allowed on set.