Alec Baldwin sued by Halyna's family for reckless behaviour on sets leading to her death

As the family of Rust cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins recently filed a lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and others involved in the film for their reckless behaviour that caused Hutchins' death, it was announced in a press conference recently along with an animated video recreating the Rust shooting incident proving the allegations of negligence.

Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed on 21 October while shooting a scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe where Alec Baldwin allegedly fired the gun towards the cinematographer that killed her and injured the director, Joel Souza. However, Baldwin earlier stated that he did not pull the trigger. 

Alec Baldwin sued by Halyna Hutchins' family 

According to Variety, the lawsuit filed by Halyna Hutchins' family revealed text messages and emails sent by Lane Luper, the camera assistant who left the production before the cinematographer's death. The suit also claimed that Alec Baldwin violated several rules and committed reckless behaviour towards handling the firearms. 

Randi McGinn, the Hutchins estate’s attorney shed light on safety training before using firearms and stated-

"In New Mexico, we’re used to people coming in from out of town to play cowboy who don’t know how to use guns. You don’t hand somebody a gun until you’ve given them safety training… No one should ever die with a real gun on a make-believe movie set."

Aaron Dyer, the attorney who represents Baldwin and the other producers, released a statement in response to the suit and mentioned that claim that Alec was reckless was entirely false. He further added that Baldwin, Halyna and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun that it was a ‘cold gun’ – meaning there is no possibility of a discharge, blank or otherwise and also stated that this protocol had worked on thousands of films, with millions of discharges, as there has never before been an incident on a set where an actual bullet harmed anyone. the statement further claimed that actors should be able to rely on armourers and prop department professionals, as well as assistant directors, rather than deciding on their own when a gun is safe to use.

The statement read, “Everyone’s hearts and thoughts remain with Halyna’s family as they continue to process this unspeakable tragedy. We continue to cooperate with the authorities to determine how live ammunition arrived on the ‘Rust’ set in the first place. Any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false. He, Halyna and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun that it was a ‘cold gun’ – meaning there is no possibility of a discharge, blank or otherwise. This protocol has worked on thousands of films, with millions of discharges, as there has never before been an incident on a set where an actual bullet harmed anyone. Actors should be able to rely on armorers and prop department professionals, as well as assistant directors, rather than deciding on their own when a gun is safe to use.”

Furthermore, Brian Panish, who represents Hutchins’ estate also presented an animated video clip of the incident in order to prove the negligence by the actor and other crew members. Watch- 

Image: AP