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News Feb 15, 2022
Alec Baldwin. | Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore/Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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Attorneys for the husband and son of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot on a New Mexico film set in October when a gun wielded by Alec Baldwin discharged a live round, announced a wrongful-death lawsuit Tuesday against the actor, film producers and other crew members.
Matthew Hutchins, on behalf of himself and son Andros, filed the suit in Santa Fe, New Mexico, claiming the “Rust” production company “breached the most basic rules of firearm use on a film production,” leading to the Oct. 21, 2021, shooting that killed the 42-year-old Hutchins.
At a Los Angeles news conference, attorney Brian Panish said there were “numerous violations of industry standards that occurred by Mr. Baldwin and others that were charged with safety on the set.” He said producers’ “reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures” directly led to the death of the 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins.
Baldwin has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing on the set, saying he was unaware of how a live round of ammunition made its way onto the set of “Rust.”
Hutchins was killed while Baldwin, a producer and star of “Rust,” was helping to prepare camera angles for a scene on the film’s set near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin, 63, was wielding a gun which was supposed to contain only blank rounds but discharged a lead bullet that struck Hutchins in the chest then lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza, 48. Souza survived the shooting.
In an interview with ABC News late last year, Baldwin insisted he “didn’t pull the trigger” of the gun. He previously described the shooting as a tragic accident, and a “one-in-a-trillion episode.”
The film’s production company has also denied allegations that on-set safety was compromised by discord among crew members.
`The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of Rust Productions and everyone associated with the company, producers said in a statement after the shooting. “Though we were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down.”
Panish, however, released a video that included a video reenactment of the shooting and highlighted messages and emails among crew members talking about safety issues on the set, including previous accidental discharges of weapons. He stressed that there was no reason for Baldwin to have been wielding a weapon when the shooting occurred, since he was only helping to set up camera angles for a scene.
Multiple other lawsuits have already been filed over the shooting, including one in Los Angeles on behalf of a script supervisor who was standing next to Hutchins when she was shot.
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