Tearful Alec Baldwin says he would have killed himself if he felt guilty about shooting dead cinematographer but he doesn't - and is convinced he WON'T face charges
A tearful Alec Baldwin said on Thursday night that he would have killed himself if he felt responsible for shooting dead camerawoman Halyna Hutchins on the set of his movie Rust, but that he doesn't feel guilty and believes he won't face charges for the accident.
Baldwin broke his silence on the shooting in an interview with ABC where he went from criticizing the likes of George Clooney for chiming in on the tragedy, to crying and talking about how 'loved' Hutchins was and how he'd bonded with her widower after accidentally killing her.
He maintains that he didn't pull the trigger and that the gun just 'went off' while in his hands on the set of the movie in New Mexico on October 21.
'I let go of the hammer, bang. The gun goes off. Everyone is horrified. They're shocked. It's loud,' he said.
He also revealed that he didn't know she'd died until hours later, at the end of his police interview when he was photographed in the sheriff's parking lot in Santa Fe, and that he's been told by people 'in the know' that it is 'highly unlikely' he'll face criminal charges.
'Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who it is, but it's not me.
'Honest to God, if I thought I was responsible I might have killed myself. And I don't say that lightly.'
The 63-year-old actor then took a swipe at former President Donald Trump, his media foe who he impersonated on Saturday Night Live, for suggesting that he 'loaded the gun himself.'
'He said that I did it deliberately. Just when you think things can't get any more surreal, here's the president of the United States making a comment on this tragic situation.'
Alec Baldwin, 63, spoke to George Stephanopoulos for an interview which aired on Thursday
The Oscar-nominated actor and father of seven said he wanted to set the record straight
Halyna Hutchins was described by Baldwin as 'fantastic', as he paid tribute to her vision and professionalism
Baldwin, after the interview aired, posted to Instagram a photo of him cradling one of his six young children.
'No matter what happens to me. No matter what I suffer. If I win or lose, anything. Anything. No one can take away from me the joy and love you have given me, @hilariabaldwin,' he wrote.
'These are tough times. The world is choked with fumes of hate. But you have given me a reason to live. Our life with our family is all I care about. Nothing else. I owe that to you.'
THE SHOOTING
Baldwin described in detail for the first time the immediate aftermath of the accident on October 21. He was filming a scene inside a church on the set of the movie when the gun was handed to him.
'She's getting me to position the gun - everything is at her direction. I draw the gun, to her marker. I'm not shooting to the camera lens, I'm shooting just off. In her direction. This was a completely incidental shot, that may not have ended up in the film.'
Baldwin says he cocked the gun, and was discussing with Hutchins how it looked on camera.
'I'm just showing. I go, 'How 'bout that? Does that work? You see that? Do you see that?' And then she goes, "Yeah, that's good."
'I let go of the hammer, bang. The gun goes off. Everyone is horrified. They're shocked. It's loud. They don't have their earplugs in.
Hutchins' October 19, 2021 Instagram post showed cast members and staffers, including Baldwin alongside Hutchins herself and armorer Gutierrez-Reed (circled left to right) on the set of Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico
The live round that Alec Baldwin fired and accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust may have been a homemade bullet, according to court documents
'No one was - the gun was supposed to be empty. I was told I was handed an empty gun. If they were cosmetic rounds, nothing with a charge at all, a flash round, nothing.
'She goes down, I thought to myself, "Did she faint?" The notion that there was a live round in that gun did not dawn on me 'till probably 45 minutes to an hour later.'
He added: 'Well, she's laying there and I go, "Did she hit by wadding? Was there a blank?" Sometimes those blank rounds have a wadding inside that packs, it's like a cloth that packs the gunpowder in. Sometimes wadding comes out, it can hit people, and it could feel like a little bit of a poke.
'But no one could understand. Did she have a heart attack? Because remember the idea that someone put a live bullet in the gun was not even in reality."
'I never pulled the trigger. No, no, no. You would never do that.'
Dave Halls, the assistant director who was watching, confirmed Baldwin's account, through his lawyer.
He said he stood over her for 'about 60 seconds' and was then ushered out. Was she conscious?' Stephanopoulos asked. 'My recollection is yes,' said Baldwin.
He said 'no one had any idea' there was live ammunition used until a police officer showed a photo of the shrapnel removed from Souza's arm.
He said then began 'the agony, insanity, that someone put a live bullet in the gun. She was laying there and she was there for a while I was amazed at how long they didn't get her in a car or get her out, but they waited until a helicopter came,' he said.
'And by the time the helicopter took off with her we were literally all glutted to that process outside.
'When she finally left, I don't know how long she was there for. She kept saying, she's stable, just as you disbelieve there was a live round in the gun, you disbelieve its going to be a fatal accident.
'At the end of my interview with the sheriff's department, they told me 'we regret to inform you she didn't make it,' they told me then and there.'
He added: 'That's when I went outside and called my wife.'
IT WASN'T MY FAULT - BUT I CAN'T SAY WHO IS TO BLAME
Baldwin insists that he is not to blame and that the fault lies with someone else, but he wouldn't name that person.
The Oscar-nominated actor said that he had been handed the antique gun and told it was safe, and he trusted the people who told him that.
'The gun was supposed to be empty,' Baldwin added. 'I was told I was handed an empty gun.'
He said he trusted others on set to do their job.
Among those were Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer, and Dave Halls, the assistant director.
'One person has that responsibility to maintain the gun,' Baldwin said.
'Halyna and I had something profound in common: we both presumed the gun was empty,' he said.
Baldwin added: 'There is only one question to be answered, only one. And that is: where did the live round come from?'
Halls, an experienced assistant director, is pictured on the set of Rust, outside Santa Fe in New Mexico
TRUMP AND CLOONEY SHOULD STAY OUT OF IT
Baldwin blasted both George Clooney and Donald Trump for commenting on the tragedy.
Clooney had discussed how he always checks his weapons on movie sets and shows them to the others there.
'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 checking the gun every time, well, good for you. Good for you.
'I probably handled weapons as much as any other actor in films with an average career, never shooting or being shot by someone. And in that time, I had a protocol. And it never let me down.'
aldwin blasted both George Clooney and Donald Trump for commenting on the tragedy. Clooney had discussed how he always checks his weapons on movie sets and shows them to the others there.
Clooney had said: 'Every single time I'm handed a gun on the set — every time — they hand me a gun, I look at it, I open it, I show it to the person I'm pointing it to, I show it to the crew,' Clooney said.
'Every single take. You hand it back to the armor when you're done.'
Clooney added: 'Part of it is because of what happened to Brandon [Lee]. Everyone does it. Everyone knows.
'Maybe Alec did that — hopefully he did do that.'
He was referring to Brandon Lee, Bruce Lee's son who was accidentally shot and killed on the set of The Crow in 1995.
The 63-year-old actor then took a swipe at former President Donald Trump, his media foe who he impersonated on Saturday Night Live, for suggesting that he 'loaded the gun himself.'
'He said that I did it deliberately. Just when you think things can't get any more surreal, here's the president of the United States making a comment on this tragic situation.'
'SHE WAS FANTASTIC '
Halyna Hutchins is seen with her husband Matthew and their son, in a 2018 photo
Baldwin said he was unaware of Hutchins's work until he was introduced to her by the film's director, Joel Souza.
'I knew nothing about her til Joel said 'I got her',' Baldwin said. 'She was fantastic.'
'Her work was beautiful. She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with her, and liked by everyone who worked with her, and was admired.'
He then broke down into sobs. Baldwin composed himself, and discussed concerns about the budget, and union complaints.
He said he rarely made films any more, as it would entail long periods of time away from his wife Hilaria and their six children. But he agreed to Rust because he loved the script, and was excited about the New Mexico filming.
'This movie made me love making movies again,' he said. 'I really thought we were onto something.'
After the fatal shooting, Baldwin met Hutchins's husband, Matthew.
'He hugged me and said: 'I guess we're going to go through this together.'' .
Speaking of Halyna's son, he said: 'This boy doesn't have a mother any more. 'And there is nothing we can do to bring her back.'
Baldwin said he 'would be stunned' if Matthew Hutchins did not seek some form of civil redress.
He said he accompanied Matthew to Halyna's memorial, and they had spoken since, but Baldwin believed his lawyers were now advising him to be cautious.
Earlier, Baldwin said he wanted to stress from the beginning that his thoughts were with the family of Hutchins and Souza, who was also shot in the disaster.
'I want to make sure that I don't come across as a victim, as there are two victims here,' he said.
He said: 'I can't imagine ever doing another movie that has a gun in it'.
The fatal gunshot may have been a homemade bullet that a New Mexico armorer supplied from a previous film where the makeshift ammunition was used to train actors at a firing range, according to court documents.
Detectives are investigating whether Seth Kenney, a 51-year-old Hollywood veteran who was supposed to provide the film with dummy rounds and blanks, may have sent recycled bullets from a previous set, according to an affidavit filed by the Sante Fe County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators continue to probe Hutchins' death, and have yet to file any criminal charges.
'A live round is not supposed to be anywhere near the set,' Baldwin said.
Asked if he was worried about being charged, Baldwin said: 'I don't have anything to hide.'
Baldwin was asked if he thought there had been sabotage - a prospect floated by the lawyer for the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed.
'No, because I can't believe a world in which that could have happened,' he replied.
'That's a big swing. That's an enormous charge to make. To attack who, to discredit who? Me? The production?'
He said he 'feels terrible' for what has happened to Gutierrez Reed and Halls, the assistant director.
Baldwin said he hopes the sheriffs office 'follow this to the end of the earth.'
He added: 'At the same time, I don't want to see Hannah suffer, Halls suffer.'
Baldwin said it had been 'very tough'.
'I don't think anyone has used this as an opportunity, except those you would expect.
'The former president of the United States said he thinks I did it deliberately. I thought to myself, just as I think it couldn't get any more surreal.'
Two people have filed suits.
Serge Svetnoy, the lighting director, who was close to Hutchins and cradled her as she lay dying, has filed for emotional distress.
Baldwin emphasized that he found it 'unsettling' that Svetnoy's suit was filed before Matthew Hutchins filed his.
Baldwin said that 'one of the two' told him outside the church: 'What happened is not your fault.'
Svetnoy confirmed through his lawyers that it was he who told Baldwin he was blameless.
'That person has the right to change their mind, of course,' Baldwin said.
Baldwin said: 'To be honest, I couldn't give a f*** about my career any more.'
He said he was not sure if he would make any more films - although he then added that he would be filming a new movie in January.
'Nobody gave a f*** who you are any more until this. You see a lot of people with their phones now, in a coffee shop,' he said, showing them filming him.
Is this the worst thing that has ever happened to you, Stephanopoulos asked.
'Yep. Because I think back, what could I have done.
'Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who it is, but it's not me.
'Honest to God, if I thought I was responsible I might have killed myself. And I don't say that lightly.'
He stressed again: 'Who bought bullets onto the set?'
Baldwin said: 'I've worked with some of the greatest cinematographers in world. And she is the loveliest woman.
'I think it's important to remember she is as admired as she loved. People really thought she had a great talent.'
Hours before the interview aired, Baldwin was seen with his wife Hilaria in New York City, where they have a home.
The pair were seen grabbing coffee at the Madman Espresso in the West Village, a favorite haunt for the couple.
Baldwin kept a sullen look, dressed in all black, while Hilaria wore electric metallic leggings and a golden-colored Moncler vest priced at $1,900.
The Baldwins had also been spotted earlier in the day taking a stroll with their infants in the Manhattan streets.
After the coffee break, Baldwin carried suitcases and packed them into his SUV before going home.
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