🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins' family is suing Alec Baldwin and others alleging wrongful death on the set of the movie.
Hutchins' family alleges in the suit that "reckless behavior" and "cost-cutting" led to Hutchins' death, according to the complaint as reported by Deadline. Lawyers filed the suit in the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe County on behalf of Matthew Hutchins, Hutchins' husband, and their son, Andros.
Hutchins was fatally shot on October 21, 2021, while preparing a scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch close to Santa Fe, New Mexico, Variety reported. Baldwin was holding the gun when it fired but has said he did not pull the trigger. The bullet went through Hutchins' torso, lodging into the shoulder of Joel Souza, the director of Rust. Hutchins died at a hospital.
The lawsuit names seven producers—Ryan Smith, Allen Cheney, Nathan Klingher, Ryan Winterstein, Anjul Nigam, Matthew DelPiano and Emily Salveson—as well as crew members Sarah Zachry, assistant director David Halls, armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, Gabrielle Pickle, Seth Kenney and others as defendants.
The suit lists some of the cost-cutting measures, including hiring inexperienced and unqualified armorers, having the armorer double as an assistant props master, having "unreasonably rushed" production schedules, and hiring safety crew members that were inexperienced and unqualified.
Lane Luper, a local camera operator, said in a text message that there had been three discharges before the fatal incident with Hutchins, saying, "This is super unsafe," the suit says.
"I think it's clear what happened," lead attorney Brian Panish told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday, Fox News reported. "Alec had the gun in his hand. He shot it. Halyna was killed."
The Hutchins' family lawyers said Baldwin "disregarded at least 15 industry standards" on the set of Rust, according to Fox News. One of the lawyers said Baldwin was responsible for Hutchins' death.
There are other lawsuits involving the incident on the set of the film. Mamie Mitchell, Rust's script supervisor, filed a lawsuit against Baldwin in November, alleging that he acted recklessly with the 6-shooter-style revolver used on the set.
Cheryln Schaefer, a medic on the film, filed a negligence lawsuit alleging "emotional distress" after Hutchins' death. She performed lifesaving measures on Hutchins after she was shot.
Gutierrez-Reed filed a lawsuit against the PDQ Arm and Prop Company, which allegedly supplied the ammunition used when Hutchins was shot, and its owner, Seth Kenney, last month, according to a complaint acquired by Deadline. The lawsuit alleges that the company disseminated boxes of ammunition that were meant to have dummy rounds, "but which contained a mix of dummy and live ammunition to the Rust production."
Update 2/15/22, 3:17 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information.
