Alec Baldwin has been hit with yet another lawsuit, with several members of the Rust crew claiming safety protocols were overlooked by the Emmy-winning actor on set.
Baldwin is currently facing manslaughter charges for the death of Ukrainian cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the filming of the Western flick. While Baldwin has pled not guilty to those charges, he’s now facing a separate case for negligence, with him being accused again of pulling the trigger which caused the fatality.
Ross Addiego, Doran Curtin, and Reese Price worked on the set as dolly operator, customer, and key grip respectively. The trio claims they were three of the seven present during the shooting of Halyna Hutchins in Bonanza Creek Ranch, New Mexico in Oct. 2021. Their suit for negligence stipulates Baldwin didn’t go by safety procedures on set with the firearm, and the set failed to adhere to industry standards.
Baldwin isn’t the only one named in this, with the trio also putting blame on the producers for using active firearms on 17 out of 21 days of filming, believing it was a disaster waiting to happen. The trio’s case also mentions several previous incidents on the set relating to safety precautions not being taken, and potentially more involving firearms.
The suit also alleges armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed “lacked essential experience”, and said she didn’t check the gun before handing it off to assistant director Dave Halls on set, who the trio also claim cut corners throughout the filming of Rust.
There’s been talk of attempting to begin filming again on Rust, but with the legal battles about to get very real and the immense controversy surrounding it, it may never see the light of day.