Well, this is totally awful! After killing someone on set, Alec Baldwin just wanted to act as if nothing happened at all!
Apparently, actor Alec Baldwin wanted to finish filming “Rust” in the weeks following the fatal on-set accidental shooting of an up-and-coming cinematographer, according to recent legal documents.
Baldwin and the crew were rehearsing a scene in this low-budget movie when he was holding the gun and it discharged a live round. It killed Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
They abandoned the movie after recriminations surfaced over who was to blame for the tragedy, including allegations of unsafe practices and claims of cutting corners.
Even though this was one of the worst of tragedies, there was an arbitration filing on Friday that showed that Baldwin had attempted to resurrect this stalled project. That would be in poor taste, to say the least.
“Baldwin made an exhaustive effort to contact the ‘Rust’ cast in the hope of acquiring their support to finish the film,” said the filing by Baldwin’s attorney to an arbitration service.
“He did so both with the intent of honoring Halyna’s legacy by completing her last work and of compensating Hutchins and his son from the film’s profits.
“Depending on the success of ‘Rust’ upon its completion and release, this additional component of the settlement would likely have equaled millions of dollars.”
There have been a series of lawsuits filed since the shooting, with the most notable one being brought by Hutchins’ husband, claiming “substantial” damages against both Baldwin and the other producers.
One of the purposes of this arbitration document was to insulate Baldwin and his production company due to the fact they were producing the movie. Moreover, it was argued in this arbitration document that the former “30 Rock” star had no responsibility for the business side of Rust.
This is citing a clause in the contract that Baldwin and the other producers had with their organization, called “Rust LLC”, which was the company formed to make the movie. It said that he is “entitled to immediate indemnification from Respondents arising out of or connected to the Rust litigations.”
Should we thicken the plot here? It was last December when Baldwin said that he doesn’t feel guilty for Hutchins’ death and he thought the firearm was safe when he was handling it.
Not a good look for a guy that has anger issues and once called his then-12-year-old daughter with ex-wife Kim Basinger a “rude, disgusting little pig” back in the 90s.
“I feel that someone is responsible for what happened and I can’t say who that is. But I know it’s not me,” said Baldwin in regards to the Rust allegations.
New Mexico authorities are conducting a criminal investigation into the matter but they have yet to decide whether to press charges. Additionally, they are trying to determine just how live ammunition found its way on the set. Either way, it is a sad tragedy, and Baldwin’s cavalier attitude regarding the issue is not doing anyone any favors.