Alec Baldwin speaks on the death of Halyna Hutchins for the first time on camera

As the investigation continues into the Rust on-set shooting that left rising cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead and director Joel Souza wounded, actor and producer Alec Baldwin, who fired the prop gun that ultimately took Hutchins’ life, is speaking for the first time on camera about the beloved cinematographer.

In a video that was posted on TMZ over the weekend, Baldwin and his wife Hilaria Baldwin appeared on camera from Manchester, VT, where he and his family have been laying low since the incident. The interesting thing about the video is that Baldwin says he’s not allowed to make any comments about the matter due to the ongoing investigation but he did say enough that may make his lawyer potentially want to pull his hair out. Baldwin said, “I’m not allowed to make any comments because it’s an ongoing investigation. I’ve been ordered by the Sheriff’s Department in Santa Fe. I can’t answer any questions about the investigation. I can’t.” The puzzling comment, that likely got him a call from his lawyer, was when he said “We were a very very… well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened.” The comment is questionable because there have been MANY allegations that this production was not a well-oiled machine leading up to this fatal incident and, as a producer, Baldwin could be one of the parties responsible on some level to ensure that corners weren’t cut and the proper people were hired for their various jobs. When you hear reports about hundreds of live spent rounds being found on-set or a prop gun being used for target practice by the crew, it doesn’t sound like it was a well-oiled atmosphere and any district attorney could pounce on that one comment from Baldwin with proof on their end that filming conditions weren’t up to par. It was enough for Baldwin’s wife to attempt to interrupt him when he was speaking but Baldwin simply said “excuse me” to his wife and then waved her off.

While Baldwin didn’t speak on the incident beyond that comment, he did take time to talk about Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin told the paparazzi “She was my friend. The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting I took her to dinner with Joel the director.” Baldwin also mentioned meeting with Hutchins’ husband and her young son after the incident but said that he “wouldn’t know how to categorize” how the meeting went. Baldwin said, “The guy is overwhelmed with grief. There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this. This is a one in a trillion episode.” He also admitted to being in “constant contact” with Hutchins’ husband and son who are “in shock.”

Baldwin also took the time to address if he would ever work on another film set that involved firearms like those used on the Rust set. Baldwin admitted that he couldn’t answer whether or not he would and went on to say, “I do know that an ongoing effort to limit the use of firearms on film sets is something I’m extremely interested in but remember, something that I think is important and that is how many bullets have been fired in films and TV shows in the last 75 years? This is America. How many bullets have gone off, nearly all of them without incident.” Baldwin did admit to not being an expert in the field of what measures need to take place to make things safer on set but he said, “whatever other people decide is the best way to go in terms of protecting people’s safety on film sets I’m all in favor of and I will cooperate with that in any way I can.”

This situation will ultimately come down to who holds the most responsibility for ensuring a prop gun is checked properly and could that responsibility actually fall on more than one person. Is it the armorer who is in charge of weapons? Is it the A.D. who admitted they didn’t check the gun before calling it a “cold gun” with no ammunition before handing it to Baldwin? Are producers responsible for not looking into backgrounds for people given these positions to check and see if they had issues on other film sets? On Wednesday, Sheriff Adan Mendoza said at a joint news conference between the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and district attorney’s office that Baldwin fired a “suspected live round.” He went on to say “The facts are clear: a weapon was handed to Mr. Baldwin. The weapon is functional and fired a live round, killing Ms. Hutchins and injuring Mr. Souza.”

It’s clear from the video Alec Baldwin is troubled by the whole experience but I have to wonder if this was the best decision. I guess he felt like he had to speak on camera about the matter but it also doesn’t feel like the best move on his part. He could’ve felt pressure from the mounting paparazzi presence he and his family are enduring after this because he did request that they no longer be followed because their children were in the car crying because they were being pursued. There is likely no easy way for Baldwin to handle the situation and this is something that is going to be in the news cycle for quite some time so he, along with key players involved with Rust, will be dealing with this for the foreseeable future.

Do YOU think Alec Baldwin was right to speak on camera?