Alec Baldwin has come forward with more to say about the Rust shooting that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. During a moderated conversation at the Boulder International Film Festival, Baldwin gave a lengthy statement about the numerous lawsuits, and about how people are targeting “deep pockets litigants.”
“We have dealt with a situation where specific people are not as interested in finding out what really happened,” Baldwin said.
“What you have is a certain group of litigants on whatever side, who their attitude is, well, the people who likely seem negligent have enough money. And the people who have money are not negligent, but we’re not gonna let that stop us from doing what we need to do in terms of litigation,” he added. “Why sue people if you’re not going to get money? That’s what you’re doing.”
Baldwin also took the opportunity to, once again, explain why he himself did not check the gun before shooting the scene, saying he entrusted the armorers on set to make sure the gun was safe to use.
“When someone whose job it is to ensure the safety of the weapon hands someone else whose job was to be the secondary layer of protection for safety and they hand it over to and you declare that that weapon is safe—that’s how I’ve lived my whole life,” he said. “I’ve relied on the safety experts there to declare the gun is safe and hand me the gun. Never had a problem.”
He then moved on to talk about Hutchins and her work as a cinematographer, as well as future safety protocols, such as the elimination of guns completely on sets in favor of CGI.
“I’m very hopeful when the facts come out. We will not be held criminally responsible but it has changed my life, and I don’t mean this in the ordinary sense that I was involved in something or somebody passed. I mean, I was involved in a situation with somebody was killed. It’s changed my life just in terms of the function of weapons in films and television,” Baldwin said.
Those involved in the investigation of Hutchins’ death continue to search for an answer as to how the live ammunition ended up on the set in the first place. Last month, Hutchins’ family filed a lawsuit against Baldwin and the “others responsible for the safety on set” for the alleged “reckless behavior” which led to her death.