Halyna Hutchins‘s husband, Matt Hutchins, appeared on Thursday’s Today show where he condemned Alec Baldwin‘s public handling of the Rust tragedy. The 42-year-old cinematographer was killed when a gun the actor and producer was holding discharged. Less than three months later, Baldwin sat down with ABC News and spoke about the horrific day on set in great detail, declaring he felt no guilt for Halyna’s death.
“It almost sounds like he was the victim,” Matt tells Hoda Kotb about feeling outraged watching the interview. “Hearing him blame Halyna in the interview and shift responsibility to others and seeing him cry about it, I just feel like, are we really supposed to feel bad about you, Mr. Baldwin?”
Matt was “just so angry” watching Baldwin “talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her.”
In the days following his wife’s death, Matt’s anger wasn’t immediately directed at Baldwin. The two met and even shared a meal together.
“To understand that moment, you have to remember the shock we were in,” Matt explained. “I spoke with Mr. Baldwin and was just looking for a way through the storm.”
When asked if Baldwin was distraught, Matt noted, “There were a lot of emotions, for sure, on both sides.”
Matt was married to Halyna for 16 years and they share one child, Andros. Halyna called her family every day from the set of Rust to wish them goodnight. Then, on Oct. 21, a member of the production team called Matt to inform him that Halyna had been shot. He quickly learned she did not survive.
“My heart sank right away,” Matt told Kotb. “I knew that I had to tell my son right away… of course, he didn’t believe it right away… I think that that kind of news you just have to say multiple times so that it can be believed. And so, he believed it, and we cried together then.”
Matt told Kotb that Andros didn’t speak for days after his mother’s death and that he only recently got their boy to laugh again.
“Every holiday, Christmas, New Year’s, our anniversary, my birthday, Valentine’s Day, I mean, every holiday is difficult without her,” Matt said.
When Kotb asked “what does justice look like,” Matt replied, “We’re pursuing justice every way we can in the sense of going through this process together and with the lawsuit seeking to hold accountable the people who are responsible for Halyna’s death, which was totally preventable.”
The Hutchens estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Feb. 15 naming Baldwin and other Rust producers and crew members. The lawsuit alleges at least 15 safety practices were disregarded on set, including Baldwin turning down some gun safety training, and that cost-cutting on set ultimately led to Halyna’s death.
“In the end, justice won’t bring Halyna back but maybe the memory of her can help keep people safe and prevent something like this from ever happening again,” Matt declared.
“The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me,” he added. “But 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.”
In a statement, a lawyer for Baldwin told Yahoo Entertainment that “any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false.”
“Everyone’s hearts and thoughts remain with Halyna’s family as they continue to process this unspeakable tragedy,” Aaron Dyer, of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, said. “We continue to cooperate with the authorities to determine how live ammunition arrived on the Rust set in the first place.”
“[Baldwin], Halyna and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun that it was a ‘cold gun’ — meaning there is no possibility of a discharge, blank or otherwise,” Dyer, who represents Baldwin and other Rust producers, continued. “This protocol has worked on thousands of films, with millions of discharges, as there has never before been an incident on a set where an actual bullet harmed anyone. Actors should be able to rely on armorers and prop department professionals, as well as assistant directors, rather than deciding on their own when a gun is safe to use.”
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