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Alec Baldwin Sued By Family Of Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins Killed On The Set Of Rust
The family of Halyna Hutchins sued Alec Baldwin and the movie's producers alleging that their "callous" disregard in the face of safety complaints led directly to the death of the cinematographer.
The family of Halyna Hutchins sued Alec Baldwin and the movie's producers alleging that their "callous" disregard in the face of safety complaints led directly to the death of the cinematographer. Halyna who was called "one of the year's rising stars," in 2019 by American Cinematographer magazine, passed away after accidentally being shot on the sets of Rust.
Matthew Hutchins filed a lawsuit in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on behalf of himself and his son Andros Hutchins, saying that Baldwin refused training for the type of "cross-draw" he was performing when he fired the shot that killed her.
"Halyna Hutchins deserved to live, and the defendants had the power to prevent her death if they had only held sacrosanct their duty to protect the safety of every individual on a set where firearms were present, instead of cutting corners on safety procedures where human lives were at stake, rushing to stay on schedule and ignoring numerous complaints of safety violations," the lawsuit said.
They also produced a text message exchange between a camera operator and a producer in which a complaint over gun safety was met with what the suit calls "callous sarcasm." In the text message, the operator, Lane Luper, said to unit production manager Katherine Walters, "We've now had 3 accidental discharges. This is super unsafe."
Walters responded, "Accidental discharge on the firearm? Awesome. Sounds good." The suit also names Halls, Walters, the film's armorer Hannah Guttierez Reed, and ammunition supplier Seth Kenney as defendants.
Meanwhile, Baldwin's attorney Aaron Dyer responded that any claim that the actor was reckless is "entirely false." The actor had said that he was pointing the gun at Hutchins at her instruction and it went off without him pulling the trigger.
Dyer added, "He, Halyna and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun that it was a 'cold gun' - meaning there is no possibility of a discharge.. Actors should be able to rely on armorers and prop department professionals, as well as assistant directors, rather than deciding on their own when a gun is safe to use."
Apart from Hutchins' tragic death, director Joel Souza was also injured when the gun went off. In an interview with ABC, Baldwin said Hutchins had asked him to point the gun just off camera and toward her armpit before it went off. "I didn't pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never," he told the channel.
