The family of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died on the sets of the film Rust, has sued actor Alec Baldwin and the other producers alleging that their cost-cutting measures and disregard of safety protocols led to her wrongful death.
Hutchins died on October 21, 2021, after a prop gun misfired when Baldwin was rehearsing with the firearm on the film’s set in Bonanza Creek, New Mexico. The incident also left director Joel Souza injured.
Since then, Baldwin (who is also one of the producers), assistant director Dave Halls, and armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed have been under investigation.
The suit filed by Hutchins’ husband, on behalf of her family, names Baldwin, Halls and Reed as well as crew members such as Sarah Zachry, Gabrielle Pickle, Seth Kenney, and the film’s other producers as defendants.
Halls was the one who had declared that the prop was a “cold gun” – one without live rounds. Both Halls and Reed later admitted that they had not checked the gun before handing it to the next concerned person. Firearm supplier Kenny suggested that a confusion between live and dummy rounds might have caused the accident.
The new lawsuit questions the usage of live ammunition on the set despite industry codes prohibiting such practices. Like the two previous suits filed by gaffer Serge Svetnoy and script supervisor Maime Mitchell, the current lawsuit also highlights Reed’s lack of experience, the armourer having only worked on one film prior to Rust.
It further notes that given Baldwin’s experience, he should have assumed that the gun in question was loaded, until it was demonstrated otherwise, and that he should not have pointed it at Hutchins.
Recommended
The late cinematographer’s family also claims that earlier instances of accidental misfires on the film’s sets were ignored by the makers. A few days prior to Hutchins’ death, on October 16, Lane Luper, a local camera operator for the production, had apparently told one of the producers that there had been three unsafe weapon discharges and that the set was “super unsafe.” The producer, also a defendant in the suit, allegedly responded with callous sarcasm, and said that the accidental weapon discharges were “awesome” and “sound[ed] good.”
“These complaints were ignored. The producers held no safety meetings. They took no action to prevent further unsafe handling of firearms. They did not suspend the production to investigate the weapons discharges or the inadequate adherence to safety protocols. Instead, the producers decided to go full steam ahead and rush the filming of the production to keep costs down,” the suit adds.
It also highlights the walkout staged by the local camera crew members in response to the producers’ disregard of safety protocols, on the day of Hutchins’ death, prior to the misfire incident.
The cinematographer is survived by her husband Matthew Hutchins and their nine-year-old son Andros Hutchins. The family is seeking compensation for Hutchins’ wrongful death.