- Filming of “Rust” has resumed after charges against Alec Baldwin were dropped.
- Baldwin faced two counts of manslaughter in connection with the death of Halyna Hutchins.
- Through their attorney, his family said they are still pursuing legal action.
Filming of “Rust” resumed on Sunday after criminal charges against Alec Baldwin were dropped in connection with the shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
On Friday, New Mexico prosecutors dismissed two counts of manslaughter against Baldwin filed in February 2023. The charges were filed after Hutchins was killed in October 2021 while filming the western, when she was been hit by a bullet from a revolver that Baldwin was practicing. with.
Legal experts previously told Insider that New Mexico’s First Judicial District Attorney’s lawsuit against Baldwin was a “terrible case that was botched at every stage of the investigation.”
After Hutchins’ death, her husband Matthew Hutchins also sued Baldwin, but that lawsuit was settled in October 2022, according to Deadline. As part of the settlement, Hutchins will serve as the film’s executive producer and will also produce a documentary honoring his late wife, Deadline reported.
In a statement to Deadline on Sunday, director Joel Souza said the film, which is now being filmed at the Yellowstone Film Ranch in Montana — with no live weapons allowed on set — would be “dedicated to honoring Halyna’s legacy and making her proud.” Souza was admitted to hospital after the shooting when the bullet lodged in his shoulder.
“Montana’s beauty is beyond words, and the warm hospitality and kindness of everyone I met was both humbling and inspiring,” Souza wrote. “It is a privilege to work alongside such great partners as we carry out on behalf of Halyna.”
However, attorney Gloria Allred, who represents Hutchins’ family, said in a statement to Insider that the family plans to pursue the lawsuit it is filing against Baldwin, as well as other producers who the family says are not. haven’t adequately protected the whole Hutchins worked. on.
“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 for Halyna, her mother, father, sister and co-worker,” Allred said in a statement to Insider.
Allred represents Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, father Anatolii Androsovych and sister Svetlana Zemko, who live in Ukraine. The family and Allred previously claimed that Baldwin never reached out to apologize to the family after Hutchins died.
Baldwin has not publicly denied the complaint, but tried to dismiss the lawsuit against him in an April 13 filing, calling it misguided by saying the family “had been estranged from Halyna physically, financially and emotionally for years. before his death.”
“We look forward to seeing Alec Baldwin in court where a jury will decide whether Alec Baldwin is just a movie star or a defendant who should be held responsible for the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins,” Allred said in the statement.
Representatives for Baldwin and Rust’s film production company did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.