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Alec Baldwin protests his innocence in Hutchins’ death

Published:Monday | March 14, 2022 | 12:06 AM
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A musician plays a violin behind a photograph of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a vigil in her honour in October, 2021. Hutchins was fatally shot after an assistant director unwittingly handed actor Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was
AP
A musician plays a violin behind a photograph of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a vigil in her honour in October, 2021. Hutchins was fatally shot after an assistant director unwittingly handed actor Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use on the set.
Alec Baldwin speaks on the phone in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after he was questioned about a shooting on the set of the film 'Rust'.
AP
Alec Baldwin speaks on the phone in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in Santa Fe, New Mexico, after he was questioned about a shooting on the set of the film 'Rust'.
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Alec Baldwin has insisted he is not “culpable” for Halyna Hutchins’ death.

The 63-year-old actor has filed an arbitration demand claiming his contract protects him from financial responsibility in the death of the cinematographer, who was killed when a gun went off on the set of Rust last October, and in the paperwork, he has stressed that the events leading up to the tragedy had nothing to do with him.

Court documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight state: “This is a rare instance when the system broke down, and someone should be held legally culpable for the tragic consequences. That person is not Alec Baldwin.”

Bladwin, who is among the defendants in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Hutchins’ family, insisted he wasn’t “reckless” on the set, having previously denied pulling the trigger on the gun, and blamed armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and assistant director Dave Halls for telling him the weapon didn’t have live rounds, and also mentioned Seth Kenney, who had supplied the ammunition for the movie.

Wasn’t my fault

The arbitration demand sent to producers stated: “Baldwin is an actor. He didn’t announce that the gun was ‘cold’ when it really contained a live round; he didn’t load the gun; he didn’t check the bullets in the gun; he didn’t purchase the bullets; he didn’t make the bullets and represent that they were dummies; he wasn’t in charge of firearm safety on the set; he didn’t hire the people who supplied the bullets or checked the gun; and he played no role in managing the movie’s props. Each of those jobs was performed by someone else.”

Baldwin dismissed reports he had refused weapons training on the set, and said he had wanted to complete the film to honour Hutchins and also took it upon himself to “provide [the Hutchins family] redress for their loss”.

Baldwin is seeking to “indemnify, defend, and hold harmless” himself and his production company, El Dorado Pictures, from any liability and is seeking to have his legal fees covered.

Brian Panish, the attorney for Hutchins’ husband, Matthew, has accused the actor of “trying to avoid liability and accountability for his reckless actions before and on October 21st that resulted in the death of Halyna Hutchins”.

He added in a statement: “It is shameful that Baldwin claims Hutchins’ actions in filing a wrongful death lawsuit derailed the completion of Rust. The only action that ended the film’s production was Baldwin’s killing of Halyna Hutchins.”