Actor Alec Baldwin provided more details on the fatal shooting that killed a cinematographer in a new court filing that claims his contract protected him from financial responsibility related to her death.
Lawyers for Baldwin filed an arbitration demand on Friday against other producers for the independent movie “Rust,” The New York Times reported .
The filing claims that Baldwin is not liable for the death of Halyna Hutchins, who Baldwin fatally shot unintentionally on Oct. 21 in New Mexico while filming a scene. Hutchins’ family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin last month, claiming that the “reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures” of Baldwin and the film’s producers, including Baldwin, “led to the death of Halyna Hutchins.”
The new filing describes how Baldwin accidentally shot Hutchins, and argues that it was not Baldwin’s responsibility to rule whether the gun had live rounds in it. The filing adds that his contract protected him from financial responsibility in her death.
“An actor cannot rule that a gun is safe,” the filing said. “That is the responsibility of other people on the set.”
More from the Times :
Mr. Baldwin then asked Ms. Hutchins if she wanted him to pull back the hammer, as the script instructed, and she said yes, the filing said.
“Baldwin then pulled back the hammer, but not far enough to actually cock the gun,” it said. “When Baldwin let go of the hammer, the gun went off.”
It went on to describe the confusion and horror after the shooting, as Ms. Hutchins was flown by helicopter to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. It was later, at the end of his interview with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, that Mr. Baldwin was shown a photograph of the projectile that had passed through Ms. Hutchins and then wounded the film’s director, Joel Souza, the filing said.
“Baldwin recognized the object as a live bullet, and he finally began to comprehend what had transpired on the set of ‘Rust’ that day,” it said. “He was shocked.”
The new filing also includes text messages between Baldwin and Hutchins’ husband, Matthew. The two initially shared texts both expressing their condolences, but the widower would later go on to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin. In an interview with the Today show , Matthew Hutchins said he was “so angry” Baldwin did not accept responsibility for the shooting.
“The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me,” Hutchins said on the show.
Baldwin faces two other lawsuits from crew members who said Baldwin should have checked the gun. Hours before the shooting, several camera crew members walked off the set in protest of unsafe working conditions.
During an appearance at the Boulder International Film Festival on Saturday, Baldwin said he relied on “the safety experts” while on movie sets.
“All my career, without incident, I’ve relied on the safety experts there to declare the gun is safe and hand me the gun,” Baldwin said. “Never had a problem. And this happened, and, of course, to me, sometimes it’s so surreal I don’t even know what to say.”
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