Actor Alec Baldwin has denied pulling the trigger of the gun on the set of the film ‘Rust’ in his first TV interview since the fatal incident that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in an interview, which was teased on Wednesday.
“So you never pulled the trigger?” Stephanopoulos asked.
“No, no, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never,” Baldwin responded.
Asked what he thought had happened, Baldwin said, “I have no idea. Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
Hutchins, 42, was killed and ‘Rust’ director Joel Souza, 48, was injured in the October 21 incident at the filming location in New Mexico. They were shot when Baldwin, 68, “discharged a prop firearm,” according to the police report. In the interview, Stephanopoulos described the event as a “tragic accident.”
Crew member Serge Svetnoy has since sued Baldwin, the assistant director who handed him the weapon, as well as the 24-year-old armorer, for “general negligence” that resulted in the death of Hutchins. Svetnoy claims the bullet barely missed him, and that he held Hutchins as she died.