Alec Baldwin Names Rust Crew Members In New Lawsuit
Last year, Alec Baldwin was involved in a fatal shooting that tragically took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. Since then, the Santa Fe Sheriff's office has completed a thorough investigation of what went wrong that day and sent its report to District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies in late October. The report hasn't been made public (yet), but her office has received just over half of the $635,000 in funding she has requested to file criminal charges and prosecute those responsible for the incident.
But who will the DA end up filing charges against? The answer to that question remains unclear. Earlier this weekend, Baldwin filed a lawsuit against four "Rust" crewmembers for negligence (via Deadline) whom he believes are truly at fault. Those individuals are Seth Kennedy, owner of the supply company which provided the weapons and ammunition used for filming; Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the set armorer who has been accused of acting recklessly in the past; David Halls, the first assistant director who told everyone on set that the gun was "cold" and safe to handle; and property master Sarah Zachry, Gutierrez's boss.
Baldwin is eager to clear his name so that he can get back to work — but he might be in for an uphill battle
In that same Deadline report, Baldwin's cross-complaint also accuses the four named defendants of indemnification, claiming that he has lost job opportunities and been fired from other projects due to the bad press surrounding the shooting. Baldwin still insists that he never fired the gun and that it discharged on its own. But filing a lawsuit against everyone else involved might not get him off the hook.
Many people — including fellow celebrities who have also handled firearms on set — believe he had a responsibility to check the gun himself before handling it. And because that didn't happen, he has since settled a wrongful death suit with Hutchins' family. He has also been named as a defendant (one of many) on script supervisor Mamie Mitchell's negligence lawsuit. She was standing perilously close to Hutchins and Souza when the gun discharged and is suing for punitive damages. When Baldwin counter-sued to be removed from that lawsuit, the judge denied his motion. So for the foreseeable future, Baldwin will remain mired in lawsuits, further delaying his and a "Rust" producer's questionable desire to resume filming in January.