The lawyer to the late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins blasted the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists actors’ union for defending Alec Baldwin despite his involvement in the on-set Rust shooting.
Baldwin was indicted earlier this month on a charge of involuntary manslaughter. In response, the actors’ union disagreed with the grand jury, claiming it made an “incorrect assessment of the actual duties of an actor on set.”
“An actor’s job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert,” its statement read. “Firearms are provided for use on set under the guidance of multiple expert professionals directly responsible for the safe and accurate operation of that firearm.” The statement did not name Baldwin.
Hutchins family lawyer Gloria Allred disagreed, telling the Hollywood Reporter that the jury had “all the facts” before making its “careful assessment.”
“The notion that an actor is not responsible if that actor holds a gun, points it at someone on a movie set, and discharges the weapon flies in the face of common sense and the law,” Allred said. “It is important to respect the grand jury’s decision to indict, and to allow the criminal justice system to proceed to trial where the case will be decided on its merits.”
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Baldwin was involved in the shooting of Hutchins in October 2021, which resulted in her death while filming the movie Rust in New Mexico. According to a statement from District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies’s office, involuntary manslaughter is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Baldwin has already paid an undisclosed settlement to Hutchins’s family. He is also facing a lawsuit from Rust script supervisor Mamie Mitchell in which he has filed a cross-complaint against the other defendants in an attempt to abdicate fault for the civil complaint.
