Alec Baldwin argued that there are only ‘two victims’ in the on-set shooting that killed Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and claims many of the individuals who have filed lawsuits against him are ‘deep pockets litigants’.
The actor, addressing the tragedy at the Boulder International Film Festival (BIFF) in Colorado Saturday, said he remains ‘hopeful when the facts come out we will not be held criminally responsible’ for the shooting.
‘From the beginning, from the moment this happened, everybody has put out — besides all the anguish and the suffering, horrible feelings we have and, of course, there are two victims and nobody else is a victim, so to speak — we have dealt with a situation where specific people are not as interested in finding out what really happened,’ he told the festival audience, according to CNN video footage of his interview.
‘What you have is a certain group of litigants on whatever side, who their attitude is, well, the people who likely seem negligent have enough money. And the people who have money are not negligent, but we’re not gonna let that stop us from doing what we need to do in terms of litigation.’
Baldwin added: ‘Why sue people if you’re not going to get money? That’s what you’re doing.’
The actor, who was billed as a ‘special guest programmer’ at the festival, did not specify which of the multiple suits filed after the after shooting he was referring to.
The suits came after Hutchins, 42, was killed in October 2021 when a prop revolver Baldwin was rehearsing with during filming in New Mexico fired a live round that hit her in the chest. Director Joel Souza, 48, was also struck but survived.
Baldwin, 63, was told the gun he brandished was ‘cold’ – not loaded – and in a December interview said he did not feel guilty for Hutchins’ death, because he didn’t believe he was responsible.
During an interview at the Boulder International Film Festival on Saturday, Alec Baldwin (pictured during the interview) argued that there are only ‘two victims’ in the on-set shooting that killed Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and claims many of the individuals who have filed lawsuits against him are ‘deep pockets litigants’
The actor said he said he remains ‘hopeful when the facts come out we will not be held criminally responsible’ for the shooting that killed 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins (pictured)
Baldwin reiterated his claim of innocence during Saturday’s interview, once again placing blame on armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, who has said that she loaded the antique Colt .45 revolver with what she believed were dummy rounds.
‘When someone whose job it is to ensure the safety of the weapon hands someone else whose job was to be the secondary layer of protection for safety and they hand it over to and you declare that that weapon is safe — that’s how I’ve lived my whole life,’ the former 30 Rock star told interviewer and BIFF special event programmer Ron Bostwick.
‘I’ve relied on the safety experts there to declare the gun is safe and hand me the gun. Never had a problem.’
He also said actors are ‘not allowed’ to declare that a weapon is safe to use.
‘You’re not allowed as an actor to declare the weapon,’ Baldwin explained. ‘I mean, the joke is, you don’t want the actors doing the safety check. They can’t even make coffee, they’re so stupid.’
Baldwin reiterated his claim of innocence during Saturday’s interview, once again placing blame on armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, who has said that she loaded the antique Colt .45 revolver with what she believed were dummy rounds. Baldwin is pictured above in a video simulation that shows the moment he fired the shots that killed Hutchins
Matthew Hutchins (right with his son, Andros, and Halyna Hutchins on his left), filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and about two dozen other defendants last month, claiming they disregarded standard industry practices meant to keep movie sets safe
Additionally, Baldwin noted he is ‘hopeful’ the investigation will reveal facts of his alleged innocence and serve as a starting point to ‘modify the safety regulations’ on film sets.
‘I’m very hopeful when the facts come out. We will not be held criminally responsible but it has changed my life, and I don’t mean this in the ordinary sense that I was involved in something or somebody passed,’ he said, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
‘I mean, I was involved in a situation with somebody was killed. It’s changed my life just in terms of the function of weapons in films and television.’
He suggested that unions and other industry members engage in discussions to address new protocols surrounding weapons on set.
The actor indicated there could be a shift to using plastic or weighted weapons, as well as ‘in all likelihood’ an elimination of ‘all live weapons’ in favor of CGI.
Although, Baldwin argues that real guns remain in films because ‘that’s what audiences want.’
‘The thing to remember is that guns are fired in films because that’s what audiences want. Maybe not this crowd. Maybe not a festival crowd where you want to watch something that’s a little more complicated,’ he said.
‘There’s a place to modify the safety regulations we have to deal with and I’m very much looking forward to our decisions.’
Baldwin noted during Saturday’s interview he is ‘hopeful’ the investigation will reveal facts of his alleged innocence and serve as a starting point to ‘modify the safety regulations’ on film sets (Pictured: Rust film set)
Baldwin – pictured in October outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office after being questioned about the shooting – believes there could be a shift to using plastic or weighted weapons, as well as ‘in all likelihood’ an elimination of ‘all live weapons’ in favor of CGI
Before concluding the interview, Baldwin also spoke about Hutchins, whom he claimed was ‘loved by people’ and ‘admired.’
‘This woman was a lovely woman, she was a lovely woman, and she was talented,’ he said of the deceased cinematographer.
Since the shooting, Baldwin has returned to work. He is currently shooting an independent feature filmed in the U.K. titled 97 Minutes.
In a recent Instagram post, he said detailed his return to acting, saying it was ‘strange’ to be back at work.
‘We had our first day today, which is always … tricky,’ he posted on February 7. ‘I don’t work as much as I used to. I said this before maybe, but you go to work and you forget what you’re supposed to do. I just was like, ‘What do you do? What is acting or any of this nonsense I ended up doing?’ It’s strange to go back to work.’
Meanwhile, Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and about two dozen other defendants – including Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director David Halls – last month, claiming they disregarded standard industry practices meant to keep movie sets safe.
The complaint alleges ‘reckless behavior and cost cutting led to the senseless and tragic death of Halyna Hutchins’.
In response to the lawsuit, Baldwin’s layer Aaron Dyer said the actor should have been able to rely on the film’s armorer, prop department and assistant directors to ensure the gun was safe to use.
Matthew Hutchins (pictured with Halyna) has publicly shared his frustrations with the actor’s refusal to take responsibility for his role in the shooting. Matthew said: ‘He said essentially he felt grief but no guilt. Almost sounds like he was the victim’
Baldwin and other key members of the Rust production team have been hit with several lawsuits in wake of the fatal shooting (Pictured: Halyna Hutchins and her son, Andros)
Matthew has also publicly shared his frustrations with the actor’s refusal to take responsibility for his role in the shooting.
‘He said essentially he felt grief but no guilt. Almost sounds like he was the victim,’ Matthew said in a TODAY interview last month.
‘The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me.’
The widower, who shared a nine-year-old son named Andros with Hutchins, his wife of 16 years, alleges at least 15 safety practices were disregarded on the set and argues that a wider cost-cutting culture ultimately led to Hutchins’ death.
‘But gun safety was not the only problem on that set. There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced and there’s multiple responsible parties,’ he shared.
Baldwin and other key members of the Rust production team have been hit with several lawsuits in wake of the fatal shooting.
Script supervisor Mamie Mitchell filed a lawsuit against Baldwin in November arguing he should have checked the Colt .45 revolver he was holding to make sure it did not include live ammunition.
Mitchell, who said she was in the line of fire during the shooting, alleges assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and deliberate infliction of harm and is seeking unspecified damages.
Attorneys for Baldwin and other Rust producers sought dismissal of the civil lawsuit in January claiming no one ‘intentionally committed harmful conduct’ against Mitchell.
Chief electrician Serge Svetnoy also filed a suit against the actor, Gutierrez-Reed and Halls in November 2021 alleging negligence.
Svetnoy accused the producers and others of failing to implement safety standards and of allowing ‘a revolver loaded with live ammunition to be pointed at living persons on the Rust set.’
‘Simply put, there was no reason for a live bullet to be placed in that .45 Colt revolver or to be present anywhere on the ‘Rust’ set and the presence of a bullet in the revolver posed a lethal threat to everyone in its vicinity,’ the complaint stated.
The electrician also said in the lawsuit that he held Hutchins in his arms as she bled from being shot in the chest, adding that it would ‘haunt him forever.’
Key medic Cherlyn Schaeffer filed a lawsuit against Gutierrez-Reed and Halls last month claiming their negligence lead to actor Baldwin being handed a gun with a live round.
The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, also included the movie’s production company and others like prop master Sarah Zachry.
Schaeffer alleges the incident caused her so much emotional distress that she cannot work, claiming she’s, ‘medically prevented from returning to the profession or any other job.’
She also claimed to be the first person to offer medical assistance to Hutchins and it was her who first called 911.
