Alec Baldwin Claims He's Protected From Liability in Halyna Hutchins' Death

Alec Baldwin said in a Friday arbitration demand that his contract shielded him from financial responsibility in the fatal on-set shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last year.

The actor/producer shot Hutchins on the New Mexico film set while practicing for a scene in which he drew a gun, and he has been named in several lawsuits since the incident. The Friday filing, which was viewed by Newsweek, also said that Baldwin did not bear culpability for Hutchins' death because it was someone else's responsibility to check the weapon and he was told that the gun did not have any live rounds.

The fatal incident last October has sparked widespread debate about who, and what, may have been responsible for Hutchins' killing. The film's director, Joel Souza, was also wounded by the same bullet from the prop gun after it passed through Hutchins.

The filing on Friday described Hutchins and Baldwin practicing for the Rust scene. The cinematographer had been showing Baldwin how to hold the gun, it said.

"She directed Baldwin to hold the gun higher, to a point where it was directed toward her," the filing said. "She was looking carefully at the monitor and then at Baldwin, and then back again, as she gave these instructions. In giving and following these instructions, Hutchins and Baldwin shared a core, vital belief: that the gun was 'cold' and contained no live rounds."

The filing said that Baldwin then asked Hutchins if she wanted him to pull back the hammer on the gun, per the script's directions, and she directed him to do so. Baldwin pulled back the hammer, "not far enough to actually cock the gun," but when he released it, the gun went off, the filing said.

Hutchins was flown to a hospital in a helicopter and later pronounced dead. When Baldwin was later shown a picture of the bullet that struck both Hutchins and Souza, he recognized that it was a live bullet and was "shocked," the filing said.

It added that someone should be held responsible for the fatal incident, but that person isn't Baldwin. Baldwin and his company signed a contract with Rust Movie Productions LLC that included a clause stipulating that he is not financial responsible for legal fees or claims that stemmed from the death, the filing said.

"Baldwin is an actor. He didn't announce that the gun was 'cold' when it really contained a live round; he didn't load the gun; he didn't check the bullets in the gun; he didn't purchase the bullets.… Each of those jobs was performed by someone else," the filing reads.

The Friday filing names Rust Movie Productions LLC and producer Ryan Smith and seeks to obtain the enforcement of the contract clause.

Newsweek has reached out to Baldwin's lawyer for comment but did not hear back by publication time.

Update 03/11/22, 1:15 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and background.