Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Alec Baldwin shares Rust crew member’s Instagram post denying ‘unsafe, chaotic conditions’ on set

Terese Davis posted that she was ‘sick’ of narrative about western movie

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Wednesday 03 November 2021 03:40 EDT
Comments
Alec Baldwin speaks publicly for 1st time about ‘Rust’ shooting

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Alec Baldwin has shared a Rust crew member’s Instagram post in which they denied reports the set where a cinematographer was shot dead had “unsafe, chaotic conditions”.

Baldwin, who fired the fatal shot from what he believed was a safe “cold gun”, took to Instagram and captioned the post, “Read this.”

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

She then wrote about the hours worked by the crew on the New Mexico set of the western movie, and denied that they had been “too tired to do their jobs”.

“This is all provable by daily time sheets,” she added.

She also addressed the reported issues with hotels, which was given as a reason the union camera crew member left the set on the morning of the fatal accident that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

“The camera crew HAD hotels. They just didn’t feel they they were fancy enough,” she claimed in her post.

She also defended the movie’s producers, writing that “concerns were heard and addressed”.

She also defended the hiring of set armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director Dave Halls, writing that Ms Gutierrez-Reed came with “great references”.

She also stated that Mr Halls “never seemed flippant about safety”, but she admitted he had seemed “stressed” on the day of the shooting because of the crew walkout and that “obviously he screwed up majorly that day”.

However, she added: “We had several safety meetings. Sometimes multiple per day.”

Baldwin conducted a roadside press conference in Vermont on Saturday saying that he was cooperating with investigators and that he has been speaking to police every day since the shooting.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department said last week that it is still investigating the incident and that it was “too early” to comment on any charges that may be brought.

Baldwin discharged the gun he says he was told was “cold” on set on 21 October, killing Ms Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

Filming of the movie has been suspended pending investigations.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in