Alec Baldwin news: Actor in Instagram spat as Rust to resume filming despite charges

Rust production’s attorney Melina Spadone told CNN on Friday that “on-set safety supervisors and union crew members ... will bar any use of working weapons or any ammunition,” just a day after New Mexico prosecutors announced charges against three of the movie’s original crew.

The Independent has the story:

“It is entirely understandable for the family of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins to welcome the charges brought against Alec Baldwin,” Andrew Buncombe writes for The Independent.

But America’s real Wild West is not film sets of westerns. It is our schools, streets, shops, and places of worship.

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On Thursday (19 January), the family of Halyna Hutchins released a statement in response to the news that Alec Baldwin, among others would be charged with involuntary manslaughter for her death.

Hutchins, 42, was shot by Mr Baldwin, who was starring in and producing the movie, during a rehearsal inside a church on the set on 21 October 2021.

In a message delivered through lawyer Brian Panish, the family thanked the Santa Fe sheriff and the District Attorney “for concluding their thorough investigation and determining that charges for involuntary manslaughter are warranted for the killing of Halyna Hutchins with conscious disregard for human life”.

They later went on to state that the announcement is a “comfort for the family”.

The Independent’s Graeme Massie has the full story:

Alec Baldwin’s lawyers have deemed the actor’s involuntary manslaughter charge a “miscarriage of justice”.

In a statement to The Independent, attorney Luke Nikas said: “This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice.

“Mr Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun – or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”

The full story, from The Independent’s Graeme Massie, is here:

A decision by New Mexico authorities to bring involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin for the fatal Rust shooting of Halyna Hutchins has been called “bold” and “aggressive” by legal experts.

The charges against Baldwin and other crew members were announced by Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Andrea Reeb on Thursday.

While Baldwin faces two counts of involuntary manslaughter, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the movie’s armourer, is also expected to be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter over the shooting.

The charges against Baldwin carry up to a maximum 18-month prison sentence.

Full story below:

The last words spoken by Halyna Hutchins in the moments after she was shot have been revealed.

Ms Hutchins, director of photography for the Western film Rust, died on 21 October 2021 after being shot by a gun held by actor Alec Baldwin, who’d believed it was filled with dummy rounds instead of gunpowder and a projectile.

Seconds after she was struck, Ms Hutchins cried out to a boom operator: “That was no good. That was no good at all,” according to a Los Angeles Times report based on interviews with 14 crew members.

Find out more in the story below:

Mickey Rourke reacted to the charging of his fellow Hollywood colleague Alec Baldwin soon after the news broke on Thursday.

Baldwin and two other Rust crew members have been charged after the death of the film’s director of photography, Halyna Hutchins in 2021.

Rourke spoke out against the involuntary manslaughter charges, claiming “no way in hell actor Alec Baldwin should be charged with any negligence whatsoever”.

The full story, from The Independent’s Louis Chilton, is below:

Three people face involuntary manslaughter charges following the death of director of photography Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film, Rust.

It was announced on Thursday that Alec Baldwin would face two counts of involuntary manslaughter after discharging the gun that shot Hutchins, while he practised a gun-drawing technique.

The film’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, also faces the same charges.

David Halls, the first assistant director for Rust, has agreed to plead guilty to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Each charge carries a punishment of up to 18 months in prison.

Director Joel Souza was also impacted by the gun discharged by Alec Baldwin on the Rust set.

He was admitted to the hospital with a gunshot wound in October 2021 and was discharged soon after.

According to a source with knowledge of the film speaking to The New York Times, Souza will return to the film as director, while Baldwin will also resume his lead role.

Broadcaster and columnist Piers Morgan weighed in on the Rust shooting on Thursday, after the news that Alec Baldwin would face involuntary manslaughter charges broke.

On his talk show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, Morgan appeared to welcome the charges against the actor.

“There was no doubt that it was an accident but Halyna Hutchins died, leaving behind a grief-stricken husband and a young child and the person holding the gun that fired a bullet and killed her was Alec Baldwin,” said Morgan.

“It was him who did that, who fired a bullet into his co-worker’s body and snuffed out her life. Nobody else’s hands were anywhere near the gun.”

The full story, by Annabel Nugent, is below: