Family of slain cinematographer sues Baldwin, producers
Suit claims crew was endangered by reckless conduct
The family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer fatally shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of the movie “Rust” last year, filed a wrongfuldeath lawsuit this week in New Mexico against crew members and producers, including Baldwin.
The suit, filed by Hutchins’s widower, Matthew Hutchins; her 9year-old son; and the personal representative of Hutchins’ estate, accused Baldwin and the other defendants of reckless conduct and costcutting measures that endangered the crew, including failing to follow basic industry standard safety checks and gun safety rules.
“Halyna Hutchins deserved to live, and the Defendants had the power to prevent her death if they had only held sacrosanct their duty to protect the safety of every individual on a set where firearms were present,” the lawsuit said, “instead of cutting corners on safety procedures where human lives were at stake, rushing to stay on schedule and ignoring numerous complaints of safety violations.”
Hutchins, 42, was shot Oct. 21 while the production was lining up camera angles for a scene in which Baldwin draws an old-fashioned revolver from a shoulder holster.
Shortly before the gun went off, discharging a bullet that killed Hutchins and injured Joel Souza, the film’s director, the crew had been told that the revolver did not contain live ammunition and was safe to handle.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday said Baldwin “recklessly shot and killed Halyna Hutchins on the set.” Baldwin has said in the past that he was not to blame for her death. “Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Baldwin said in an ABC television interview in December. “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
Aaron Dyer, a lawyer for Baldwin and other “Rust” producers, said in a statement that “any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false,” arguing that Baldwin and other members of the cast and crew were relying on professionals tasked specifically with checking firearms.
“Actors should be able to rely on armourers and prop department professionals, as well as assistant directors, rather than deciding on their own when a gun is safe to use,” the statement said.
He noted that “everyone’s hearts and thoughts remain with Halyna’s family as they continue to process this unspeakable tragedy.”
At a news conference, lawyers for Matthew Hutchins played a video that used animation to recreate what they say happened on the day of the shooting, based on interviews with crew members and at one point including Baldwin’s comments from the ABC interview.
The lawsuit said that the defendants should not have allowed live ammunition onto the set, that Baldwin should not have pointed a gun at anyone, and accused the production of “aggressive cost-cutting” that it said had “jeopardized and endangered the safety of the cast and crew.” The suit claimed that the producers had hired an “inexperienced” and “unqualified” armourer, and that members of the production had ignored earlier firearms discharges on the set that had led to complaints about a lack of safety.
Brian Panish, a lawyer for Matthew Hutchins, said at a news conference in Los Angeles: “There are many people culpable, but Mr. Baldwin was the person holding the weapon that, but for him shooting it, she would not have died. So clearly he has a significant portion of the liability, but there are others.”
Last month, lawyers for the Hutchins family indicated that they were contemplating a lawsuit when they asked a court to appoint a representative in New Mexico for Halyna Hutchins’s estate. Under New Mexico law, half of any proceeds from the lawsuit would go to Matthew Hutchins and half would go to her son.
Halyna Hutchins was a rising cinematographer from Ukraine; friends and colleagues described her as fiercely dedicated to the art of filmmaking. It remains unclear why live bullets were on the film set and how one of them got into the gun that Baldwin was handling.