Alec Baldwin.Photo: Jim Spellman/Getty
Alec Baldwinwanted the cast and crew on the Western filmRustto complete filming after the fatal on-set incident as a way to honor late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, a new court filing claims.
On Oct. 21, the 42-year-old cinematographer was shot and killed on the New Mexico set of the ill-fated film. Baldwin was holding the gun that discharged, shooting her and director Joel Souza, who survived his injuries.
Matthew’s complaint said that Baldwin “and the other Defendants in this case failed to perform industry standard safety checks and follow basic gun safety rules while using real guns to produce the movieRust, with fatal consequences.”
Alec Baldwin; Halyna Hutchins.Rachel Luna/WireImage; Mat Hayward/Getty/AMC Networks
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Baldwin has maintained that he did not actually pull the trigger of the gun that he did not know contained live bullets. In an emotional ABC News interview in December, he said that hedoes not feel personally guiltyabout the incident: “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
In that sit-down, Baldwin said he had been told it is “unlikely” he’ll personally face criminal charges, adding that he continues to cooperate in investigations. “I don’t have anything to hide,” he said. (The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office has not yet charged anyone in the incident.)
He added at the time that he “would go to any lengths to undo what happened.”
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Matthew later revealed how he took issue with Baldwin’s television interview. During an interview with theTodayshow last month after his lawsuit filing, the widower recalled, “Watching him, I just felt so angry. I was just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her.”
“There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced, and there’s multiple responsible parties,” he added. “The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me.”
In the Friday filing, Baldwin’s attorneys wrote about how the grieving husband’s stance toward the actor had allegedly shifted: “Before Hutchins’s appearance on theTodayshow, his interactions with Baldwin had only been polite, collaborative and, at times, even warm,” the filing read, per theTimes.
Elsewhere in the filing, it read, “Someone is culpable for chambering the live round that led to this horrific tragedy, and it is someone other than Baldwin. This is a rare instance when the system broke down, and someone should be held legally culpable for the tragic consequences. That person is not Alec Baldwin.”
The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office has not yet charged anyone in the incident.
source: people.com
