Alec Baldwin sues Rust armorer and crew for giving him a loaded gun
Alec Baldwin is suing several key crew members associated with the film Rust, accusing them of negligence for providing him with the loaded gun that killed the film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.
The actor filed the lawsuit on Friday as a cross-complaint to a lawsuit filed against him last year by the film's script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, who sued Baldwin and several others associated with the film for their alleged involvement in the shooting, which she claimed caused her severe emotional distress. That lawsuit is ongoing, with a judge declining to dismiss Baldwin as a defendant earlier this month.
In Baldwin's lawsuit, which was obtained by multiple outlets including The New York Times, the actor names several crew members in particular as negligent, including the film's then-24-year-old armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, first assistant director Dave Halls, prop master Sarah Zachry, and guns and ammunition provider Seth Kenney. He specifically accuses Gutierrez-Reed of failing to check the gun carefully and blames Hall for mistakenly announcing that it was a "cold gun," meaning it did not contain ammunition.
"This tragedy happened because live bullets were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun," Baldwin's attorney Luke Nikas writes in the suit, according to reports. "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. Baldwin did not know and had no reason to know any of these facts. But Cross Defendants did."
Sam Wasson/Getty Images; Inset: Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images The Santa Fe set of 'Rust' (inset: Alec Baldwin)
Lawyers for Gutierrez-Reed, Halls, Zachry, and Kenney could not be reached for comment. According to The New York Times, all the defendants named in Baldwin's lawsuit have denied responsibility for the shooting.
Baldwin claims in the lawsuit that he has lost work and other financial opportunities as a result of the shooting and is asking for compensation for legal fees incurred from Mitchell's case. Still, Baldwin is careful to point out that his suffering pales in comparison to that of Hutchins' family.
"There can be no doubt that others have suffered from Cross-Defendants' negligence far more than Baldwin has," the suit reportedly reads. "Hutchins lost her life, and her young child lost his mother. Producer Joel Souza was shot in the shoulder and has suffered physical and emotional pain. Though by no means comparable, Baldwin must live with the immense grief, and the resulting emotional, physical, and financial toll, caused by the fact that Cross-Defendants' negligent conduct, assurances, and supervision put a loaded weapon in his hand and led him, Hutchins, and everyone else on set to believe that his directed use of the weapon was safe. More than anyone else on that set, Baldwin has been wrongfully viewed as the perpetrator of this tragedy."
The fatal shooting took place on Oct. 21, 2021, when a prop gun wielded by Baldwin discharged a live round during an on-set rehearsal, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has maintained he was told the gun was unloaded, and in an interview with ABC News in December, he insisted he didn't pull the trigger.
Jae C Hong/AP/Shutterstock The set of the Western film 'Rust'
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's office investigated the incident and turned over its final report to the state's district attorney, who will review the material and decide whether to press criminal charges. The Sheriff's office has not released the findings of its final report but did share some evidence earlier this year, which Baldwin cites in part in his lawsuit. Specifically, the lawsuit cites the investigation's finding that Kenney kept his weapons and ammunition company in "disarray," and includes photos of ammunition it describes as being stored "haphazardly." The suit also refers to an FBI report that noted live bullets had been found in a variety of locations on set, including in a bandoleer Baldwin was wearing that day as part of his costume.
Last month, Hutchins' estate announced that it had reached a settlement in its wrongful death lawsuit against Rust Movie Productions and Alec Baldwin. "We have reached a settlement, subject to court approval, for our wrongful death case against the producers of Rust, including Alec Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions, LLC. As part of that settlement, our case will be dismissed," Halyna's husband, Matthew Hutchins, said in a statement. "The filming of Rust, which I will now executive produce, will resume with all the original principal players on board in January 2023."
Since the accident, Souza and other members of the cast and crew have expressed their desire to complete Hutchins' final work. The Western also stars Jensen Ackles, Travis Fimmel, and Frances Fisher.
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