Halyna Hutchins: Alec Baldwin Hits Back At Claims The Rust Set Was 'Unsafe And Chaotic'

Alec Baldwin has responded to claims that the set of his film Rust, where cinematography Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot, was "unsafe and chaotic."

The actor, who fired the shot from what he thought was a safe prop gun, shared a crew member’s message on his own Instagram account.

Alec Baldwin/Instagram)

Costume designer Terese Magpale Davis criticised the reports surrounding the film’s production. 

“I’m so sick of this narrative,” she wrote. “I worked on this movie. The story being spun of us being overworked and surrounded by unsafe, chaotic conditions is bulls**t.”

She also addressed reports surrounding the working conditions on set. “We never worked more than a 12.5 hour shoot day. That was once. Most days were under 12. The day Halyna died we had come off of a 12 hour turnaround after an 11 hour shoot day. We had (including camera) gotten off by 6.30pm. We had just had a 56 hour weekend right before that. No one was too tired to do their jobs.”

Halyna Hutchins/Instagram)

Terese also notes that the crew’s working hours can be proven by daily time sheets. 

She also defended Rust’s producers, claiming that “concerns were heard and addressed.”. 

Terese defended set armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director Dave Halls. 

“We had several safety meetings,” she wrote. “Sometimes multiple per day.”

Halyna was aged just 42 when she died. The film's director, Joel Souza, 48 was also injured in the freak accident which took place at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe in October.

In an email acquired by IndieWire that was sent to the members of the IATSE Local 44 trade union, which covers prop masters, it was claimed that Rust’s prop master was not a member of Local 44.

Instagram - halyna hutchins)

It also claimed that the prop gun contained live ammunition.

The email said the incident "was an "accidental weapons discharge" where "a live single round was accidentally fired on set by the principal actor [Alec Baldwin], hitting both the Director of Photography, Local 600 member Halyna Hutchins, and Director Joel Souza."

The email continued: "Local 44 has confirmed that the Props, Set Decoration, Special Effects and Construction Departments were staffed by New Mexico crew members. There were no Local 44 members on the call sheet."

Local police confirmed Alec Baldwin had been questioned but no charges have been made.

Topics: TV And Film, News, Celebrity

Gregory Robinson

Gregory is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, he has worked for both print and online publications and is particularly interested in TV, (pop) music and lifestyle. He loves Madonna, teen dramas from the '90s and prefers tea over coffee.