Along with the family of Halyna Hutchins – the cinematographer who was shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of the indie-western film “Rust” – suing Baldwin for wrongful death, more information has emerged about internal neglect which may have led to Hutchins’ death.
BuzzFeed News reported that the lawsuit alleges that the film’s producers and executives deliberately ignored standard security protocols during filming in order to save money. Additionally, it states that Baldwin, who is a producer on the film, along with other senior members, blatantly ignored safety concerns expressed by staff, including a tell-all text message from camera operator Lane. Luper who came a few days before the October 21, 2021. shooting.
“It’s super dangerous,” Luper wrote of three other accidental firearm discharges that had happened on set before.
Luper eventually left the film a day before Hutchins’ death, to protest unfair and unsafe working conditions.
The lawsuit also denounces the film’s low-budget status, citing “aggressive cost-cutting pricing,” such as “hiring inexperienced and unqualified gunsmiths or weapon masters, requiring the film’s gunsmith to split his time as assistant props, aggressively setting and adhering to unreasonably rushed production schedules, and hiring crew and unqualified and inexperienced personnel who were responsible for safety during production.
Speaking to ABC News in November, Luper said, “It was a perfect, perfect storm of the gunsmith, the assistant director, the on-set culture, the rush. That was all.
