Slain cinematographer’s husband angry Baldwin deflects blame

ANDREW DALTON, Associated Press

Updated: Feb 24, 2022 / 06:42 AM CST

FILE – Actor Alec Baldwin attends the 2019 PEN America Literary Gala In New York on May 21, 2019. Attorneys for the family of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was shot and killed on the set of the film “Rust,” say they’re suing Baldwin and the movie’s producers for wrongful death. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The husband of a cinematographer shot and killed on the set of the film “Rust” says it’s “absurd” that Alec Baldwin believes he’s not to blame for the shooting and he was “so angry” when Baldwin didn’t accept responsibility.

The remarks made in excerpts released Wednesday from an interview with the “Today” show are the first public words from Matt Hutchins on the Oct. 21 death of his wife Halyna Hutchins.

“The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me,” Matt Hutchins told ”Today” host Hoda Kotb in the interview that airs in full Thursday.

Baldwin said in a December interview with ABC News that he was pointing the gun at Halyna Hutchins at her instruction on the New Mexico set of the Western when it went off without his pulling the trigger, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.

“Watching him I just felt so angry,” Hutchins said. ”I was just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her.”

Baldwin said in his interview that “someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but it’s not me.”

Matt Hutchins added that “gun safety was not the only problem on that set.”

“There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced,” he said, “and there’s multiple responsible parties.”

Matt Hutchins and his 9-year-old son are the plaintiffs in a wrongful death lawsuit filed last week that names Baldwin, the film’s producers and others as defendants.

It alleges that Baldwin, who was also a producer on the film, and his co-producers showed “callous” disregard in the face of safety complaints, and their “reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures” led directly to her death.

Baldwin’s attorney Aaron Dyer responded that any claim the actor was reckless is “entirely false.”

At least four other lawsuits have been filed over the shooting, but Hutchins’ is the first directly tied to one of the two people shot.

Last month Baldwin turned over his cellphone to investigators, and Dyer said he continues to cooperate fully with the investigation.

Investigators have described “some complacency” in how weapons were handled on the “Rust” set. They have said it is too soon to determine whether charges will be filed.