Ever since the accidental killing of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western Rust, Alec Baldwin, the man who unwittingly pulled the trigger on a live prop gun, has played it safe. The actor, who was also one of the film’s producers, has cooperated with authorities and investigators and, apart from a testy yet measured run-in with paparazzi, kept quiet from the public. But on Tuesday, he did something on social media that shed even more doubt on already chaotic situation.
As caught by Deadline, Baldwin retweeted a lengthy Facebook post from Terese Magpale Davis, Rust’s costume designer, who asserted that widespread reports of the set’s “unsafe, chaotic conditions” are “bullsh*t.”
Baldwin shared Davis’ words over seven different Instagram posts. It found the designer contradicting a number of claims made to the press. Davis alleged that the crew were not overworked and that the hotels were not as far from set as they said. She professed that they had gun safety meetings “sometimes multiple per day.” She claimed that the producers “worked tirelessly alongside us” and that David Halls, the Assistant Director who admitted he didn’t thoroughly check the gun before handing it to Baldwin, “never seemed flippant about safety.”
Davis also trashed the camera crew, claiming they wanted to “hold the producers over a barrel” when they walked out, which she alleged was not due to poor working conditions but because they “tried to negotiate their contracts halfway through.”
It will be up to investigators to determine how much of what Davis wrote is accurate. But whatever the case, Baldwin felt compelled to share it with his followers, along with the words, “Read this.”
The stories that have emerged from the set of Rust have been both shocking and chaotic, with crew members like Hall and the set’s armorer making harrowing admissions. The entertainment production industry is already in upheaval. The same day as Baldwin’s Instagram share, over 200 cinematographers demanded an end to “functional firearms” on sets.
You can read Davis’ full post on Deadline.
