Family Of Rust Cinematographer Sues Alec Baldwin For Wrongful Death
We all knew this was coming. Aside from the money he’ll have to pay should he lose, the case will undoubtedly be awkward for Alec Baldwin to fight on a personal level, given that he says he was friends with the woman he accidentally killed. Baldwin will have to directly blame someone else for the shooting, and it’ll likely be the prop people, the director, and the film’s producers, even though they’re all named in the suit, too. Everyone is going to be pointing fingers at everyone, and this trial will be ugly. Via TMZ:
Alec Baldwin is now a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Halyna Hutchins.
In the lawsuit, lawyers for the family list what they say are the lapses in safety on the “Rust” set … lapses they claim led to the cinematographer’s death.
As for Baldwin, the suit claims he was only 4 feet from members of the crew and reached across his body and used his right hand to grab the revolver holstered on his left side, drew the revolver with a cross draw movement and aimed it directly at Hutchins while drawing back the hammer.
The suit claims, “He released the revolver’s hammer, and — BAM — defendant Baldwin fired the revolver.” Baldwin said in an interview he did not pull the trigger, but at a news conference Tuesday the Hutchins’ lawyer said “I think it’s clear what happened. Alec had the gun in his hand, he shot it — Halyna was killed. The gun cannot fire unless the trigger is engaged and the hammer is back.”
The suit says Baldwin never checked the gun himself for ammo before using it.
In addition to Baldwin, the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and the assistant director, David Halls, are being sued, among many others … including various production companies. The company that provided the ammunition is also a defendant.
The suit, filed by Hutchins’ husband and son, asks for unspecified damages, including punitive damages. They’re repped by L.A.-based Panish, Shea, Boyle, Ravipudi LLP. While Baldwin himself has denied culpability — pointing the finger elsewhere — Hutchins’ family had been slow to indicate who they think is actually responsible, until now.
Baldwin’s career is effectively over because of this horrible accident, no matter what happens with the suit. No one can watch Alec Baldwin in a movie or TV show now without thinking of him killing someone. After decades of success in film and television (30 Rock is among the greatest shows of all time), it’s over for him. Of course, the end of a celebrity’s career is nothing in comparison to what the victim’s family is going through. Maybe Baldwin can come back in 10 years or so, but by that time he’ll be nearly 75 years old, so what’s the point.
