Alec Baldwin Claims That He’s Not Responsible For Halyna Hutchins’ Death

As teased yesterday, Alec Baldwin sat down with ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for his first one-on-one interview about the horrific death on the New Mexico set of the western film Rust, in which the gun he was allegedly just holding went off, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. What we gathered from the promo released yesterday was Alec claiming he never fired the gun (that it simply went off in his hand), that he had no idea how a live round made its way into the antique firearm, and that it was the worst day of his life. There’s more, including Alec’s choice to talk about this situation, rather than wait and save it for court, and that he doesn’t feel any guilt for what happened, because he believes it’s someone’s fault, just not his.

I pondered yesterday if it was the smartest move for Alec to run his mouth to ABC News about this situation, considering authorities are still investigating, and it’s probably only a matter of seconds before Halyna Hutchins’ family files a wrongful death lawsuit. It sounds like Alec Baldwin has already gotten that question several times because he addressed the legal elephant in the room by saying that he had to get his side of the story out as soon as possible. Alec Baldwin? Motivated by impatience and his own sense of being right? Never. via The Hollywood Reporter:

“I think that there is a criminal investigation, that could be a while. There is all kinds of civil litigation, and I felt that there were a lot of misconceptions,” Baldwin said. “The sheriff’s department hasn’t even released a report to the DA yet…I feel like I can’t wait for that process to end.”

If the DA ever needs Alec’s testimony, they can just reference this ABC News interview. He spills it all. Like when he described the set-up that led to Halyna Hutchins’ death.

“She was standing next to the camera, looking at a monitor … guiding me for how to hold the gun for this angle,” Baldwin said. “The gun wasn’t meant to be fired in that angle. I am holding the gun where I was told to hold it, which was right below her armpit. An angle that might not be filmed at all.”

Baldwin says that Hutchins told him to begin cocking the hammer for a particular shot.

“I pulled the hammer as far back as I could without cocking the gun,” Baldwin said. “I let go of the hammer and bang, the gun goes off.”

Alec says that he was rushed out of the church where they were rehearsing so that medics could tend to Halyna, who was later airlifted to the nearest hospital and pronounced dead. Alec adds that he had no idea he had even shot Halyna, saying that he thought she had fainted and wasn’t informed until about 45 minutes to an hour later that there was a bullet in the gun that went off and that she had been shot to death.

As for who should be investigated here, Alec jumped to the defense of the film’s lead armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and assistant director Dave Halls. Along with Alec, they’ve been named in a lawsuit that has since been filed. Hannah has been accused of not doing her job as an armorer properly (while she herself has accused the film of being a barrel of unsafe working conditions, and believes the situation might have been an act of sabotage), and David Halls has been the source of several previous workplace complaints. But Alec says, no no, they’re good people, don’t point fingers at them.

He added later on, however, that he was sympathetic to what Halls and Gutierrez Reed went through, saying, “I don’t want to see Hannah suffer, or Halls to suffer.”

So who is to blame? Not Alec Baldwin, according to Alec Baldwin. He tells George Stephanopoulos that he’s heard from several sources that it’s unlikely he’ll face any charges for what happened (unsubstantiated rumors? Always a good criminal defense). And yes, he was the one who was holding the gun that went off and fired a real bullet at Halyna Hutchins, but he feels no guilt over it, because it’s not his fault. He added that if he did feel guilty enough to believe it was his fault, he probably would have ended his life.

.@GStephanopoulos: "Do you feel guilt?"

Alec Baldwin: “No. Someone is responsible for what happened and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”

NOW STREAMING on @Hulu: https://t.co/4iAWW86Kbw #BaldwinABC pic.twitter.com/F64P3aR9vB

— ABC News (@ABC) December 3, 2021

That’s a bit of a messy thought to bring into that conversation, but Alec managed to make things messier by dragging George Clooney a little. After the devastating situation happened on the set of Rust, George Clooney – who lost his friend Brandon Lee to an accidental on-set gun death – said that there were a lot of “stupid mistakes” that happened on Rust, and that he has so far avoided such stupid mistakes by checking the chamber every single time he’s handed a gun on set. When George Stephanopoulos brought up George Clooney’s claim that he always checks every gun he’s ever handed, Alec responded with the characteristic warmth and compassion we all know him to have. via People magazine:

“Well, there were a lot of people who felt it necessary to contribute some comment to the situation, which really didn’t help the situation. At all. If your protocol is you’re checking the gun every time, well, good for you. Good for you.”

Okay, but yes – good for George Clooney, legitimately. That smug attitude doesn’t change the fact that George Clooney’s gun safety protocol hasn’t landed him opposite of George Stephanopoulos in a serious darkly-lit primetime interview. Maybe don’t start gaslighting a man whose messiest career moment has been a Batsuit with nipples on it.

Pic: ABC News