Alec Baldwin's Rust Shooting Has Officially Resulted In Legal Troubles
The first lawsuit has been filed over the deadly "Rust" shooting incident, and actor and producer Alec Baldwin is named among the defendants. The litigation was revealed at a press conference on Wednesday, November 10, Reuters reports.
"They should never, never, have had live rounds on this set," said attorney Gary A. Dordick, a lawyer for the set's chief electrician, Serge Svetnoy. Per Entertainment Tonight, Baldwin and several other members of the "Rust" production team who were on set on October 21 — when Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot by the "30 Rock" star — are all being blamed for causing Svetnoy "severe emotional distress." In the lawsuit, the electrician's legal team claims that the incident went down just feet away from him and will now "haunt him forever." "Mr. Svetnoy is not motivated by money," Dordick told reporters on Wednesday. "This lawsuit is to make these kind of unsafe conditions that happen too much on movie sets stop now."
In addition to Baldwin, armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed and assistant director Dave Halls are also blasted throughout Svetnoy's suit for allegedly allowing a prop gun to be used on-set without checking it multiple times for live rounds. Authorities have stated that Gutierrez Reed and Halls handled Baldwin's prop gun before he accidentally shot Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
Baldwin was 'reckless and irresponsible' on set, suit says
The legal team for chief electrician Serge Svetnoy alleges that Halyna Hutchins' death could have possibly been avoided had Alec Baldwin and the rest of the "Rust" production team been more responsible on set. Specifically, attorney Gary Dordick told reporters that the crew was "cutting too many corners to save money" and that Baldwin should have checked his prop gun before firing it, per Fox News.
"Any responsible actor knows you don't take a real gun, point it at a human being, pull the trigger," Dordick said, according to the New York Daily News. "That conduct is what we call reckless, irresponsible, and wanton." According to Svetnoy's suit, Baldwin should have ultimately acted "as if [the gun] was loaded and [refrained] from pointing it at anyone." Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed should also be held accountable, the suit says, since she was the "sole" person in charge of the ammunition and firearms being used.
Svetnoy previously called Gutierrez-Reed and the "Rust" production team out on Facebook before eventually filing his lawsuit against them. "I'm calling out to the Producers!" he wrote. "To save a dime sometimes, you hire people who are not fully qualified for the complicated and dangerous job, and you risk the lives of the other people who are close and your lives as well."