Throughout this week, lawsuits have been popping up left and right following the nightmare that was the 2021 Astroworld Festival, but now, litigation has surfaced surrounding one of the year’s other horrible tragedies. Last month, actor Alec Baldwin fired a live prop gun on the set of the upcoming Western Rust and ended up injuring the film’s director, Joel Souza, and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Much like the Astorworld Festival tragedy, fans and celebrities alike have been debating who should be held responsible for the on-set death of Hutchins, and according to a new lawsuit filed by Rust gaffer Serge Svetnoy, Alec Baldwin, armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, first assistant director David Halls, and the film’s producers are all to blame.
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“This incident was caused by the negligent acts and omission of Defendants, and each of them, as well as their agents, principals, and employers,” the lawsuit states. “Simply put, there was no reason for a live bullet to be placed in that .45 Colt revolver to be present anywhere on the Rust set, and the presence of a bullet in a revolver posed a lethal threat to everyone in its vicinity.”
Since the shooting last month, Svetnoy has been critical of everyone’s involvement in Halyna Hutchins’ death. According to him, the blame doesn’t fall on just one person because several people could have prevented the tragedy from happening in the first place by just double-checking the prop. “The person who was supposed to check the weapon on the site did not do this,” Rust‘s chief lighting technician wrote on Facebook. “The person who had to announce that the loaded gun was on the site did not do this; the person who should have checked this weapon before bringing it to the set did not do it.”
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
Stay tuned to HNHH for more updates as this ongoing story develops.
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