Three 'Rust' crew members sue Alec Baldwin over 'blast injuries'
Alec Baldwin is among the “Rust” producers facing a lawsuit from three of its crew members, following the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western film.
The three crew members — Ross Addiego, Reese Price and Doran Curtin — filed a civil lawsuit on Friday against Baldwin, Rust Movie Productions, LLC and El Dorado Pictures, alleging negligence and infliction of emotional distress.
The crew members were in Baldwin’s “line of fire when he shot and killed the film’s cinematographer” on the movie’s New Mexico set in 2021, according to a statement provided by their attorney, Vigil Law Firm.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured in the shooting after authorities say Baldwin fired a live round from a prop gun while rehearsing a scene.
Accusing the team behind “Rust” of tapping an “inexperienced armorer [Hannah Gutierrez-Reed] and set leaders with histories of safety violations,” the statement said multiple complaints from the crew “were ignored while cast and crew were allowed to handle firearms without proper training.”
All three, the lawsuit said, suffered “blast injuries” after witnessing the shooting that killed Hutchins.
Curtin, court documents stated, “watched Hutchins fall to the ground right in front of her.” After attempting to aid Hutchins, Curtin “collapsed from the effect of the blast and the shock of the shooting.”
Following the shooting, the lawsuit said, the defendants “offered no diagnostic services or any meaningful emotional or mental health services to plaintiffs. Despite this, plaintiffs have independently sought support in dealing with their injuries which include, but are not limited to, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.”
The lawsuit from the crew members is the latest legal battle Baldwin, both the star and executive producer of “Rust,” and the film’s production companies is facing.
Last month, the Santa Fe, N.M., district attorney’s office filed involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed.
Baldwin, along with Rust Movie Productions, LLC, settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the family of Hutchins last year, and announced filming on the movie would resume. Earlier this month, the makers behind “Rust” said the film would move to Montana when production resumes in the spring.