Halyna Hutchins’ Widower Says He’s ‘So Angry’ At Alec Baldwin’s Comments ‘Shifting’ Responsibility

Matt Hutchins, husband of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer accidentally shot and killed by Alec Baldwin on the set of indie western Rust, said he felt “so angry” at an interview Baldwin gave to ABC News. He accused the actor of trying to “shift responsibility to others,” while discussing the shooting.

In an interview with George Stephanopoulos in December 2021, Baldwin said, “I would go to any lengths to undo what happened,” but also said he was not culpable and added, “Halyna and I had something profound in common, and that is we both assumed the gun was empty other than those dummy rounds.”

He insisted that although he was a producer on Rust, he was a “purely creative producer,” thus distancing himself from suspicions that the film’s production team was operating on a thin budget and ignored certain industry standards. “I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me,” Baldwin also said.

Hutchins sat down with Today‘s Hota Kotb to talk about his side of the tragic story and took issue with Baldwin’s recollection. Hutchins told Kotb it angered him 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.”

He added that the tone of Baldwin’s interview “sounds like he was the victim,” and also pushed against comments that seemed to “blame Halyna.” Hutchins also alluded to aspects of the civil suit he filed against Baldwin by saying, “gun safety was not the only problem on that set. There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced, and there’s multiple responsible parties.”

Hutchins has sued Baldwin for wrongful death, and the complaint alleged Baldwin “recklessly shot and killed Halyna Hutchins.” It also accused Baldwin and other leaders of the indie film of ignoring up to 15 safety practices while shooting primarily in the name of cutting costs.

“In the end, justice won’t bring Halyna back,” Hutchins told Kotb, “But maybe the memory of her can help keep people safe and prevent something like this from ever happening again.”

A lawyer for Baldwin has said, “Any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false,” but it’s not clear how he will respond to the suit in court yet. Hutchins filed the suit in Santa Fe on February 15 on behalf of himself and their son Andros, and seeks unspecified damages. The investigation of the shooting is still ongoing and no charges have been filed yet.