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Alec Baldwin addressed the “Rust” tragedy Saturday during a film festival in Boulder, Colorado.
The actor was holding a gun that discharged on a New Mexico movie set Oct. 21, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin continues to maintain his innocence and said in a televised interview he did not pull the trigger.
His statements have angered Hutchins’ husband, who has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin.
“The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me,” Matthew Hutchins told NBC News’ “Today” co-anchor Hoda Kotb during an interview last month.
“But gun safety was not the only problem on that set,” Hutchins added. “There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced and there’s multiple responsible parties.”
Lawyers filed a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of Matthew Hutchins and his son Feb. 15, naming Baldwin and others who “are responsible for the safety on the set” as defendants. The suit also alleges “reckless behavior and cost-cutting” that led to the death of Halyna Hutchins.
Alec Baldwin addressed the “Rust” tragedy Saturday during a film festival in Boulder, Colo.
(Jim Spellman/Getty Images)
In addition to Matthew Hutchins, a handful of “Rust” crew members have filed lawsuits against Baldwin and the “Rust” production.
During an interview at the Boulder International Film Festival, festival special event programmer and panel moderator Ron Bostwick opened the floor to Baldwin, 63.
Baldwin spoke about how there were “two victims,” while also seemingly suggesting there are some people who have filed suits who are “financially motivated” and are going after “deep pockets litigants,” The Hollywood Reporter reported.
ALEC BALDWIN ‘RUST’ SET SHOOTING RECREATED IN VIDEO SIMULATION
“From the beginning, from the moment this happened, everybody has put out — besides all the anguish and the suffering, horrible feelings we have and, of course, there are two victims and nobody else is a victim, so to speak — we have dealt with a situation where specific people are not as interested in finding out what really happened,” Baldwin said, according to THR.
“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. Why sue people if you’re not going to get money? That’s what you’re doing.”
Baldwin also compared people dying on film sets to people dying while working in other industries. He asked attendees to “think of all the billions of rounds of ammunition that were fired on movie and TV sets in the last 75 years, and four people have died” and then “compare that record to the opioid industry, the airline industry, the automobile industry, the gun industry itself,” THR reported.
The outlet reports that Baldwin highlighted “the safety record of the film and television industry,” noting that there is a chain of command when it comes to handling weapons on set. He suggested that breaking that protocol is “illegal” and “against the rules.”
He reportedly said his career had “been without incidents” and he’d “never had a problem” when he relies on “the safety experts.”
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“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.”
“In all likelihood,” Baldwin said, live weapons will be a thing of the past and films will rely on computer-generated imagery.
This aerial photo shows the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M., Oct. 23, 2021. Actor Alec Baldwin was holding a gun on the set of a Western being filmed at the ranch Oct. 21 that discharged, killing the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong | Photo by Fred Hayes/Getty Images for SAGindie, File)
“The thing to remember is that guns are fired in films because that’s what audiences want. Maybe not this crowd,” he said. “Maybe not a festival crowd where you want to watch something that’s a little more complicated. There’s a place to modify the safety regulations we have to deal with and I’m very much looking forward to our decisions.”
Baldwin remembered Halyna as someone who wasn’t just “loved by people, she was admired,” and he also spoke about how his life has changed.
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“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,” he said. “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.”
When Baldwin’s inclusion plans were first revealed for the festival last month, it prompted negative reactions on Twitter, with people calling the choice “disappointing,” “terrible,” “shameful” and “embarrassing.”
Fox News Digital attempted to cover the event but was turned down. Baldwin’s reps requested that outlets that do not normally attend the film festival not be granted credentials.
Reps for Baldwin did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
Fox News’ Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report
