Quentin Tarantino has said he believes Alec Baldwin is partially responsible for the on-set Rust shooting of Halyna Hutchins.
In 2021, cinematographer Hutchins was killed by a prop gun fired by Baldwin, with director Joel Souza also injured. Consequently, Baldwin faced charges for involuntary manslaughter, but these charges were dropped in April 2023 after evidence suggested the gun could have been modified, potentially causing malfunction.
As such, the film’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was charged and eventually convicted guilty of involuntary manslaugter, and was sentenced 18 months in prison – the maximum length possible for the crime. Baldwin went to trial, but found his case dismissed last July due to “critical” bullet evidence that the judge ruled was withheld from the court.
Now, Tarantino has spoken about the incident on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast. When Maher asked the director: “How can it be [Baldwin’s] fault — like either you think he purposely shot that cinematographer or you think he didn’t purposely shoot her. And if he didn’t purposely shoot her, then it’s all fucking bullshit. Am I wrong?”, Tarantino replied: “No.
“I think I’m being fair enough to say that the armorer, the guy who hands him the gun, is 90 percent responsible for everything that happens when it comes to that gun,” Tarantino continued, adding that “the actor is 10 percent responsible” as well.
“It’s a gun. You are a partner in the responsibility to some degree,” he said.
When asked how actors would test the gun, Tarantino responded: “They show it to you. If there are steps to go through, you go through them and it’s done with due diligence. And you know it’s fucking for real.” He went on to reason that if Baldwin “went through the steps that he’s supposed to go through, then he [should know better].”
Tarantino added that if Baldwin knew he had “three hot rounds” in his prop gun, and “one of the rounds doesn’t go off while he does his ‘bam, bam, bam,’ then he should cut the scene and say, ‘Guys, one of the rounds didn’t go off. I think I’m still holding a hot gun here.’”
Alec Baldwin recently broke his silence following his case dismissal by writing a message on social media.
“There are too many people who have supported me to thank just now,” he wrote. “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family.”
In other news, Joel Souza has said he has “no relationship” with Alec Baldwin following the fatal shooting.
