The producer of 1993’s The Crow says it is “beyond belief” that Alec Baldwin is being held accountable for the shooting on the set of his film, Rust, that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Jeff Most, the producer of the film in which Brandon Lee lost his life filming due to a prop gun fire accident, says it is absurd to charge Alec Baldwin with any crimes or violations after the film’s armorer handed him a handgun to be used in a scene that was loaded with a real, live cartridge, instead of a blank.
“I’m brokenhearted at the loss of Halyna,” Most said, adding that he and his wife knew Hutchins personally. He also lamented that it seems like nothing has been learned from the accident on the set of his film 30 years ago to the accidental shooting on the Rust set in 2021.
“To see that in the almost 30 years between the movies we hadn’t improved upon that was certainly devastating,” Most told The Guardian.
During the filming of The Crow back in 1993, actor Brandon Lee — son of famed martial arts expert Bruce Lee — was hit in the chest with wadding and other parts of a heavily loaded blank that had been shot out of a handgun during the filming of a scene. The particles entered his chest and badly tore up his insides. Even though he was rushed to the hospital, doctors could not save him and he died.
This is not at all similar to what happened during the filming of Rust in 2021 when Baldwin was handed a pistol that was actually loaded with a live cartridge instead of a blank. Baldwin then cocked the pistol and — according to the FBI — pulled the trigger, even though he was unaware he was shooting an actual bullet at Hutchins and director Joel Souza.
Regardless of the key differences between the two incidents, Most thinks it is ridiculous to charge Baldwin with any crime, saying, “I will say that I find it tragic and beyond belief that Alec Baldwin has been held any bit responsible for this.”
“As a producer with more than 30 years’ experience and numerous action films under his belt, I can assure you that there is no place in the world in which an actor is responsible for the weapon they’re handling,” Most continued.
“There’s no place for anything but absolute safety on a set and it all brought back memories of the terrible tragedy with the loss of Brandon. It should not have been repeated and I hope it won’t ever be again,” he concluded.
The courts have already assigned some of the blame for Hutchins’ death to Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was armorer of the film — the person in charge of the guns, firearm props, and ammunition. It was her job to make sure any firearms being handed to any actors were safe and ready for use.
Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in March and was later sentenced to the maximum penalty of 18 months in prison.
But Baldwin, the one who actually pulled the trigger, faces an indictment on involuntary manslaughter charges in January — prosecutors’ second attempt at holding him accountable for the shooting. He has also been sued by the victim’s family and members of the crew.
