Alec Baldwin files lawsuit for 'Rust' shooting, holds crew responsible for mishap
Nov 12, 2022
Los Angeles [US], November 13 : American actor Alec Baldwin has filed a lawsuit against the 'Rust' armorer and other cast and crew members for negligence after they gave him a loaded revolver on the set, killing the movie's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.
For failing to ensure safety on set, the actor took action against four crew members: Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Dave Halls, Sarah Zachry, and Seth Kenney, as per Page Six.
"This tragedy happened because live bullets were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun," Baldwin's lawyer, Luke Nikas, wrote in the countersuit, according to Page Six.
"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 offset and was a safety risk to those around her," Nikas continued.
He added that Baldwin "seeks to clear his name" and hold the defendants "accountable for their misconduct."
The New York Times reports that Kenney, who provided all of the guns for the movie, is accused in Baldwin's lawsuit of "haphazardly" keeping all the ammunition. Additionally, he cited an F.B.I. investigation that said Zachry and Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer and prop specialist, failed to keep track of all the live rounds on the set.
He assumed the gun was "cold," but it accidentally went off while the Oscar-nominated actor was practising for a part in the movie.
According to Page Six, Joel Souza, the director, was shot in the clavicle before Hutchins was hit in the chest.
In February, Hutchins' family filed their complaint against Baldwin, about four months after the cinematographer was killed.
Although Baldwin has denied any involvement in Halyna's passing, the actor and the family of the deceased, including her husband Matthew Hutchins, who will now serve as an executive producer on the movie and earn a share of the proceeds, struck an undisclosed settlement.
