Leaked video shows Alec Baldwin on the Rust set with prop guns
Alec Baldwin expressed concern for crew members' safety in leaked Rust set footage
Aux News Alec Baldwin
New footage of Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust with a prop gun has been leaked to the public amid ongoing legal issues pertaining to the film. NBC News obtained five videos from the set, which were taken days before Baldwin fired a prop gun that injured director Joel Souza and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin, who served as both actor and producer on Rust, has denied responsibility for the fatal incident.
The previously unseen footage sees Baldwin firing prop weapons as well as preparing before takes. In one of the clips, he tells someone offscreen to move to the “other side of the camera” because “I don’t want to shoot towards you.” In another, he expresses concern about the safety of a particular trail on which they were filming and suggests finding an easier route; in a clip from filming the same scene, a camera operator falls and Baldwin repeatedly asks “Are you okay?” before filming resumes. Other clips seem to show rehearsal footage with prop guns.
The videos are reportedly “among dozens that special prosecutors requested from Rust Movie Productions LLC in the spring and didn’t receive until October,” per a source for NBC News. Another source claimed that “prosecutors no longer believed the gun Baldwin had been using on set was modified and that they had found new evidence that they believed connected Baldwin to recklessness around safety standards on the set.” Special prosecutors in New Mexico, where Rust was filmed, were scheduled to convene a grand jury on Thursday to decide whether Baldwin should be recharged with involuntary manslaughter, but a judge rescheduled the date.
NBC News sources claim that prosecutors desire to “humble” Baldwin in the wake of his comments about Rust and make this a “teachable moment” for the actor. The outlet reports that Baldwin was allegedly in conversation about taking a plea deal but ultimately backed out. After prosecutors announced in October their plans to convene a grand jury, his lawyers released a statement saying: “It is unfortunate that a terrible tragedy has been turned into this misguided prosecution. We will answer any charges in court.” The set videos can be seen over at NBC News.
35 Comments
I’m not sure who allegedly leaked the videos (i.e. Baldwin’s camp or the prosecutors), but is this supposedly making Baldwin seem more guilty? Because actor repeatedly bringing up safety and being reassured everything is fine by the people in charge of safety says it’s fine does seem to suggest Baldwin did not contribute to the negligence. If this is the smoking gun – him saying “please don’t go up hills because you’re going to get hurt – it seems like this is a reach.
“I’m not sure who allegedly leaked the videos (i.e. Baldwin’s camp or the prosecutors), but is this supposedly making Baldwin seem more guilty?”
Obviously not.
I saw a couple of clips this morning. It definitely puts Baldwin in a better light, so I’m betting the leaker is someone from his legal team or production company. Like the article says, there are clips of him telling people to move because he doesn’t want to be shooting towards them. It backs up the argument that this was an accident, on top of him not knowing there was any live ammo anywhere on set, and undermines the sloppy/careless safety claim.
It backs up the argument that this was an accidentIs anyone actually arguing otherwise?
The New Mexico prosecutor. The involuntary manslaughter charge they are pursuing shows there an argument being made about recklessness on Baldwin’s part.
Right but I thought the argument was that recklessness caused a tragic accident.
Yes.
Negligence is not the same thing as accident.
I thought negligence could lead to an accident. Thus someone could be responsible for the accident, but it’s still an accident. Checking the actual definitions of the word isn’t convincing me I’m wrong either: an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injuryseems to apply. I think it’s a safe bet that no one intended for people to get shot.
Well no, I don’t think anyone’s suggesting it was murder, but obviously the New Mexico DA thinks he has criminal culpability here. The new videos show he was taking appropriate care, and reinforces that the armorer remains the only person who really screwed up here.
I think it also suggests he didn’t pull the trigger, or at least never meant to, while it was pointed towards somebody.
Could go either way. The prosecution could argue that because he already had safety concerns that he DEFINITELY should have checked for ammo before rehearsing with it. To some, the extra context of the leaked video might make him seem even more negligent.
lol
Checking for ammo is against union regulations. If he had done that, he would have been violating on set safety protocols.
That’s my thinking as well. Him being shown expressing concern for all things safety on the set, not just prop guns but even paths and people just falling down, certainly seems to point to a lack of negligence on his part.
Definitely, when Baldwin is the voice of reason on set, it speaks to some pretty lacking safety standards.
This really seems like Alec Baldwin was quite concerned with safety on the set, and I feel badly for the young woman’s widow and child, using her tragic death as a “teachable moment” to “humble” an actor. Alec Baldwin has been wildly famous for like forty years there is no humbling him and it is certainly not the job of New Mexican prosecutors to do so. Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies needs to let Baldwin get back to fathering his children and let the family of Halyna Hutchins grieve her in peace.
Agreed. This blows a pretty big hole in the negligence charge against Baldwin. IMO if there’s any criminal culpability here it’s with the armorer for allowing live ammo anywhere near the set and then not checking the weapon.
Agree. It’s so bizarre that she’s got such a vendetta against probably one of the least culpable people on set. Meanwhile, she basically let the A.D., David Hall, get away scot free. The man whose job it was to ultimately oversee general safety on set and who literally told Baldwin moments before the incident that it was a “cold gun”.I wondered if she was a Republican, who maybe just hates “liberal Alec Baldwin”, but nope, apparently, she’s a Democrat. But I should be forgiven for the mistake, because wanting to “humble” a Hollywood actor by *checks notes*, ‘charging him with a serious crime that might include jail time’ totally sounds like something a deranged conservative DA would do. I think it’s time for Santa Fe Dems to find someone to primary her.
Someone in the DA’s office must be showing her all the precedent from other on set accidents that will make these charges extremely hard to stick.
Agree. It’s so bizarre that she’s got such a vendetta against probably one of the least culpable people on set. Meanwhile, she basically let the A.D., David Hall, get away scot free. The man whose job it was to ultimately oversee general safety on set and who literally told Baldwin moments before the incident that it was a “cold gun”.I wondered if she was a Republican, who maybe just hates “liberal Alec Baldwin”, but nope, apparently, she’s a Democrat. But I should be forgiven for the mistake, because wanting to “humble” a Hollywood actor by *checks notes*, ‘charging him with a serious crime that might include jail time’ totally sounds like something a deranged conservative DA would do. I think it’s time for Santa Fe Dems to find someone to primary her.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies…What an odd thing to say.
Really this is still in the news?
I’d agree if the headline was “Prosecutor drops/trumps up charges” or “Baldwin files motion to dismiss” but footage from the set? If that ain’t news, I don’t know what is.
This whole thing is fucking stupid. Dude was an actor/producer. Means he ponied up some $$$, let them attach his name to stuff, and didn’t want to be bossed around. Doesn’t mean he was in charge of prop gun safety. Unless they’re putting all the producers on trial for having some kind of overall responsibility for the safety of the set, I don’t get it. I can’t believe this has been dragged on this long.
The John Landis/Vic Morrow incident set a precedent for this kind of situation. Landis et al got acquitted despite things like overtly skirting child actor and safety policies. Hard to see how criminal charges will get a conviction
Similarly, no charges were ultimately brought in the Brandon Lee case against the actor who fired the gun specifically because it was deemed it wasn’t his job to check for real bullets. Short of proving Baldwin put the bullets in the gun or messed with the gun after it was handed to him, it seems extremely unlikely this will hold up.
From what I remember, Lee wasn’t exactly killed by a real bullet. A bullet (just the lead part) got stuck in the barrel somehow, so when the blank went off, it sent the bullet out of the barrel, so a blank and an unrelated projectile combined to effectively act like a real bullet.Just checking the ammo would have revealed blanks. You’d have had to look down the barrel too.
Checking the ammo is against Union rules. Again, actor fires gun. Gun accidentally kills someone. Actor abided by all onset rules.
Plus if you are going to charge him because he was a producer, shouldn’t you be charging all the producers? Or are you just going after the one that will generate the most headlines.
Here’s something I think is tangentially relevant: giving a eulogy at Vic Morrow’s funeral, John Landis said: “Tragedy can strike in an instant, but film is immortal. Vic lives forever. Just before the last take, Vic took me aside to thank me for the opportunity to play this role.” It may be a low bar to clear, but as far as I know after Halyna Hutchins died Alec didn’t congratulate himself for hiring her.
This is a political prosecution, plain and simple, which became pretty evident when the prosecutors were on Sean Hannity’s show the same night they initially charged Baldwin. They’re going after him because he offended their Orange Anus Emperor. Baldwin has already paid out to Hutchinson’s family for what happened, and that should be the end of it. The rest of this is bullshit.
Was the Brandon Lee death ever scrutinized and picked apart like this one? I do not recall anyone being taken to court for that tragedy on The Crow set, even though there were reports of negligence by the special effects crew in charge of the fire arms in the scene that took his life.
The first two paragraphs seem to demonstrate that Baldwin was actively concerned about safety on set so….I look forward to seeing how this is twisted to somehow make him seem more guilty??
I’m sorry, but I don’t do snark. The woman Alec Baldwin killed would’ve died that day even she wasn’t in the movie business.
He was making a movie glorifying the use of guns, insisted on using functional firearms as movie toys, and recognized the danger such use posed – and still proceeded to play with them without taking even one moment to learn how to ensure the gun wasn’t going to be lethal. He’s an adult who should know the danger posed in the “Telephone” game. As soon as he picks up a functional firearm he becomes solely responsible for what happens in using it, just as the person who fires squibs or other pyrotechnics is. Calling it a prop gun is a mistake if it wasn’t made by the prop department. The previous information is that real guns, including the murder weapon, had been loaded with real rounds and used to play with on the set when filming was stopped. That’s not showing a concern for safety. Allowing live rounds anywhere near the set is entirely unacceptable. Letting yet another clearly avoidable death go by with a shrug is how the seeds for the next death are planted.