Alec Baldwin to speak on Rust tragedy in ABC News interview
Last month, a prop gun handled by Baldwin “discharged” and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust
Alec Baldwin gave his first interview regarding the Rust shooting that left one dead and another injured to ABC News for a one-hour special broadcast airing tomorrow night. The interview, conducted by George Stephanopoulos, will air on Thursday at 8 p.m. and stream on Hulu.
“I have done thousands of interviews at ABC News over the last 20 years. This was the most intense that I have ever experienced,” Stephanopoulos said on Good Morning America. Stephanopolous also said that the interview was quite long, lasting one hour and 20 minutes—but will be edited down for broadcast.
Last month, a prop gun handled by Alec Baldwin discharged on the set of the film Rust, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and hospitalizing director Joel Souza. While Baldwin has been in contact with authorities and Hutchins’ family, he has yet to make a lengthy public statement on the matter.
Baldwin previously made brief comments about the shooting on Twitter. “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours,” Baldwin wrote.
“I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”
Baldwin called the production “a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together” before the accident. Some claim the opposite. In the weeks following the shooting, crew members reported that they complained of unsafe working conditions on set. Hours before the shooting, crew members walked out in protest of said conditions.
On a private Facebook group, according to Deadline, one crew member reported, “We cited everything from lack of payment for three weeks, taking our hotels away despite asking for them in our deals, lack of Covid safety, and on top of that, poor gun safety! Poor on-set safety period!”
Others alleged that assistant director Dave Halls brushed off gun safety measures and that inexperienced, non-union crews were brought on after the official crew left.
[via Deadline]