It’s been over a year since the tragic shooting on the set of Rust, which ended with the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. A shroud of mystery still hangs over the incident, even after an investigation concluded that the gun wouldn’t have gone off had someone not pulled the trigger. Alec Baldwin, who wielded the gun that accidentally fired a live round, has always maintained he didn’t fire the gun, or at least pointed the blame elsewhere. Now he’s taking a more dramatic step in an effort to restore his reputation.
As per Deadline, Baldwin filed a lawsuit on Friday, blaming several crew members for alleged negligence. That includes armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, first assistant director David Halls, property master Sarah Zachry, and weapons and rounds supplier Seth Kenney. As per the cross-complaint:
“This tragedy happened because live bullets were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun, Gutierrez-Reed failed to check the bullets or the gun carefully, Halls failed to check the gun carefully and yet announced the gun was safe before handing it to Baldwin, and Zachry failed to disclose that Gutierrez-Reed had been acting recklessly off set and was a safety risk to those around her.”
“More than anyone else on that set, Baldwin has been wrongfully viewed as the perpetrator of this tragedy,” Baldwin’s lawyer writes about his client. “By these Cross-Claims, Baldwin seeks to clear his name and hold Cross-Defendants accountable for their misconduct.”
The filing comes mere days before the Santa Fe District Attorney is set to announce how she’ll handle prosecuting the shooting. Meanwhile, amidst all of this — and after reaching a settlement with Hutchins’ family — producers of the film are hoping, however improbably, to get the cursed production back on track.
(Via Deadline)
