Alec Baldwin denies pulling trigger in first interview since Rust shooting

2 December 2021, 11:02 | Updated: 4 January 2022, 12:35

Alec Baldwin has denied pulling the trigger of the gun that killed a cinematographer on the set of his film Rust, in his first in-depth interview since the shooting.

Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed in October when a prop gun - that Mr Baldwin was holding - went off during filming in New Mexico.

Joel Souza, the director, was wounded by the bullet after it passed through Mrs Hutchins, a married mother of one who died on the way to hospital.

Mr Baldwin had been told by an assistant director that the gun was safe when it was given to him during rehearsals, according to police records.

In a preview released by ABC News, ahead of Thursday evening's show, the 63-year-old spoke to journalist George Stephanopoulos.

Mr Stephanopoulos said: "It wasn't in the script for the trigger to be pulled."

Mr Baldwin replied: "Well the trigger wasn't pulled, I didn't pull the trigger."

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"So you never pulled the trigger?"

"No, no, no, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger - never."

Mr Stephanopoulos asked: "How did a real bullet get on set?"

"I have no idea," said Mr Baldwin.

Woman fatally shot by prop gun fired by Alec Baldwin, police say

Mr Baldwin is being sued by a crew member of the movie over the fatal shooting.

Serge Svetnoy, the film's head of lighting, says he's suffered "severe emotional distress" because of Halyna Hutchins' death.

He says the bullet which killed his close friend narrowly missed him - and that he held her head as she died.

Mr Baldwin was filming Rust, a Western movie, near Santa Fe, when he accidentally shot Ms Hutchins, a well-regarded cinematographer.

Production is unlikely to restart after the tragedy, Mr Baldwin told paparazzi following the incident.

Read more: Woman dies and man injured after Alec Baldwin fires prop gun on film set

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He added he is "extremely interested" in efforts to limit the use of guns on film and TV sets.

He said he had met with Ms Hutchins' husband and son but did not want to share further details on it.

He previously told paparazzi: "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.

"So, he is in shock… we are in constant contact with him because we are very worried about his family and his kid and as I said we are eagerly waiting for the sheriff's department to tell us what their investigation has yielded."