Quentin Tarantino claims Alec Baldwin is at least partly responsible for the fatal on-set shooting of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was fatally wounded during the production of Rust in 2021.
Speaking to Bill Maher on Maher’s “Club Random Podcast” Sunday, Tarantino weighed in on the incident the month after a judge dismissed involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin. Maher asked the director if he’s “wrong” to believe the case had been “bulls—t” if prosecutors didn’t believe Baldwin intentionally shot Hutchins.
“The armorer is 90 percent responsible for everything that happens when it comes to that gun,” Tarantino said. “But, but, but, but, but, but the actor is 10 percent responsible.”
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“It’s a gun,” he continued. “You are a partner in the responsibility to some degree.”
In January, when prosecutors filed involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin and Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, SAG-AFTRA released a statement expressing the opposite view to Tarantino’s, arguing that actors should not be responsible for inspecting guns on set.
“An actor’s job is not to be a firearms or weapons expert,” the statement read. “Firearms are provided for use on set under the guidance of multiple expert professionals directly responsible for the safe and accurate operation of that firearm.”
Gutierrez Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in March and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
In July, Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer threw out the case against Baldwin after finding the prosecution withheld evidence—rounds of ammunition—which could have been connected to the shooting which killed Hutchins and wounded the movie’s director, Joel Souza.
