Actor Alec Baldwin has decided to file a lawsuit just over a year after the shooting that occurred on the set of the movie “Rust.”
People reported Baldwin is looking to “clear his name” after firing a prop gun, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza, citing court documents.
The lawsuit states, “More than anyone else on that set, Baldwin has been wrongfully viewed as the perpetrator of this tragedy.”
The outlet noted the cross-complaint was filed Friday in the Los Angeles County Superior Court and names “some of the same people accused of negligence in script supervisor Mamie Mitchell’s 2021 lawsuit, which also previously listed Baldwin, the production company and others involved.”
Baldwin’s court documents show, if Mitchell wins the case, he is seeking to take a share of those damages for himself.
Those listed in the cross-complaint include armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, assistant director David Halls, prop master Sarah Zachry and armorer assistant Seth Kenney along with Kenney’s prop weapon and ammunition supply store company, as People reported.
Baldwin’s attorneys Luke Nikas and Robert M. Schwartz argued the names listed “owed a duty to those on set, including Baldwin, to keep the set safe. Everyone on set, including Baldwin, expected and trusted them to do so.”
The lawsuit continues, “This tragedy occurred on a movie set — not a gun range, not a battlefield, not a location where even a remote possibility should exist that a gun would contain live ammunition. It occurred under the supervision of a professional armorer, Gutierrez-Reed, and the First Assistant Director, Halls, who were hired to protect the actors and crew on set.”
The lawsuit also claims the tragedy happened because “live bullets were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun, Gutierrez-Reed failed to check the bullets or the gun carefully, Halls failed to check the gun carefully and yet announced the gun was safe before handing it to Baldwin, and Zachry failed to disclose that Gutierrez-Reed had been acting recklessly off set and was a safety risk to those around her.”
According to the report, the cross-complaint demands “compensatory, nominal, statutory, and punitive damages” through a jury trial.
The report on the lawsuit sparked several reactions on Twitter.
One user tweeted, “So he’s suing himself?”
So he’s suing himself??? https://t.co/nR2qd8oKtz
— Spitfire (@DogRightGirl) November 12, 2022
Another wrote, “It’s a veritable sue-a-rama. And I predict next rust crew is going to sue Alec Baldwin for… you know, pulling the actual trigger.”
It’s a veritable sue-a-rama.
— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) November 12, 2022
And I predict next rust crew is going to sue Alec Baldwin for… you know, pulling the actual trigger. https://t.co/XELFUQqSd0
One tweet suggested Baldwin has “0 shame.”
@AlecBaldwin has 0 shame https://t.co/UVLwaU64NV
— dfitz (@dfitz3318) November 12, 2022
Check out more tweets below:
Alec Baldwin fired twice. https://t.co/F3JpUIsJW1
— Paineful Truths 2: Memetic Boogaloo ?☠️ (@PainefulTruths2) November 12, 2022
Now this is epic https://t.co/G9T9Edamiv
— Captain Sack (@PornInstitute) November 12, 2022
Oh that’s fkn ballsy. Throw his azz in jail, murderer. https://t.co/5GfSVuKYht
— ✶ Eʅυȥιꪜꪜ ✶ (@2AWoman) November 12, 2022
The last person to handle the weapon is the one liable for it. Every actor who is handed a gun should themselves inspect it before using it. Alec Baldwin is the negligent party. https://t.co/dEEw0AgGCy
— Wade Miller (@WadeMiller_USMC) November 12, 2022
Last month, Baldwin received criticism for posting about Hutchins just one year after her death, as IJR reported.
