‘Rust’ Shooting Report Gets Big Update

The Rust movie set shooting report has been months in-process, and we now have a big update about the investigation. According to Deadline, the New Mexico Environment Department was tasked with investigating potential workplace safety violations on the set of Rust and is “on track” to release its report later this week. “We are on track to release the report by the April 21 deadline,” Matthew Maeza, a spokesperson for the NMED, told the outlet. “I don’t have details about the report findings to share at this time.”

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set of Rust on Oct. 21, after a prop gun that actor Alec Baldwin was holding, was discharged. The gun was initially not believed to be loaded with live rounds. In addition to Hutchins’ death, the incident also wounded the film’s director, Joel Souza. Following the incident, Baldwin released a statement on Twitter, and later he spoke to a group of photographers who were inquiring about the incident. “A woman died,” he told the group, per Deadline. “She was my friend. She was my friend. The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting, I took her to dinner with Joel, the director. We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened.”

Later, during an interview with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, Baldwin claimed that he “didn’t pull the trigger” on the gun, stating that he has no idea why or how it fired a live round. This claim has been backed up by the film’s Assistant Director, David Halls. Ina previous statement to Good Morning America, Halls’ attorney Lisa Torraco said, “Dave has told me since the very first day I met him that Alec did not pull that trigger. His finger was never in the trigger guard.”

It was later announced that Baldwin is being sued by Hutchins’ family over the Rust set shooting which claimed her life. According to TMZ, lawyers for Hutchins’ husband and son filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and others from the film’s crew claiming Baldwin intentionally pulled the gun from its holster and pointed it in Hutchins’ direction. “He released the revolver’s hammer, and — BAM — defendant Baldwin fired the revolver,” the suit reads.

In addition to Baldwin, other defendants in the suit include Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director, David Halls. The suit also names multiple production companies, as well as the company that provided the ammunition. In the lawsuit, Hutchins’ family claims that cost-cutting methods — including hiring inexperienced armorers and requiring the armorer to also handle the duties of assistant props master — led to “super unsafe” conditions, as alleged by a camera operator who made safety complaints just days before Hutchins’ death.