Shot dead in Western shooting: Alec Baldwin sues film crew

Alec Baldwin goes on the offensive: About a year after the fatal gunshot in a western shoot in the US state of New Mexico, the Hollywood star has sued members of the film crew. In the October 2021 incident, the main camerawoman was Halyna Hutchins (42) mortally wounded. Baldwin, who worked as the lead actor and producer on the film, was holding a gun during a scene rehearsal when a gunshot went off.

The Colt had a real bullet instead of blanks. How did live ammunition get into the gun? Who is blamed for Hutchin’s death? Was there sabotage involved? The Santa Fe sheriff did not hand over his investigation to the prosecutor’s office until late October. The authority now has to decide whether to charge a charge in the case, for example for wrongful death.

The traumatic incident was followed by accusations and assumptions. Several parties involved initiated civil proceedings to claim damages. Now Baldwin is also taking legal action for the first time. The lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles (local time) includes the gunsmith and an assistant director who handed the gun to the actor on set.

Baldwin, more than anyone else on set, was wrongly blamed for causing this tragedy. The 64-year-old is about restoring his good reputation. Baldwin accuses the defendants of negligence. Anyone on set would have trusted these employees to keep the shooting safe. But this was not the case. “This tragedy happened because live ammunition came on set and was loaded into the gun.” Baldwin blames gun master Hannah Gutierrez-Reed for not carefully examining the bullets and gun.

Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer Jason Bowles responded with a brief statement to a request from the German news agency. “Baldwin alone is responsible for this tragedy,” Bowles wrote in a statement Saturday. In the past, the gunsmith’s attorney had blamed the actor for pointing the gun at Hutchins.

In January, Gutierrez-Reed sued a man who provided props for the “Rest” recording. In addition to harmless dummy cartridges, there was live ammunition in a box, it was said. Something similar is now also mentioned in Baldwin’s lawsuit.

Baldwin’s move is a counterclaim to a lawsuit filed about a year ago by script supervisor Mamie Mitchell against members of the film crew and the actor. During a press conference with star attorney Gloria Allred, Mitchell tearfully described the shock after the gunshot. According to her lawsuit, many safety measures on the set were ignored. Baldwin played “Russian roulette” while operating the weapon without checking it first, Allred said last November.

Baldwin’s counterclaim is a “blatant” attempt to blame others, Allred said on Saturday in a statement made available to Germany’s news agency.

The actor argues in court that the fatal incident had both psychological and financial consequences for him. He was then fired from Jobs and passed over by others and therefore demands financial compensation.

An earlier civil lawsuit that Hutchins’ family had filed against Baldwin and others involved in the production of Rust was surprisingly settled in early October. ‘We all believe that Halyna’s death was a terrible accident’, emphasized the widower Matthew Hutchins at the time. After this amicable settlement, both parties also stated that the interrupted western shot would be continued to honor the last work of the camerawoman. The widower is now involved as an executive producer. Shooting is expected to resume in 2023.

But that doesn’t change the potential criminal aftermath for Baldwin or anyone else involved. “No one is above the law,” New Mexico Attorney General Heather Brewer said in October. If the facts and evidence point to a criminal offense, an indictment may follow.

(yam/sda/dpa)