Actor Alec Baldwin claimed during a new interview with ABC News that he did not pull the trigger on the firearm that discharged a bullet that hit and killed someone on the set of the movie “Rust.”
ABC News reports:
On Oct. 21, Baldwin was holding an antique revolver during a dress rehearsal for the Western at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico, when it discharged, killing the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, and wounding its director, Joel Souza.
Halyna Hutchins “was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with and liked by everyone who worked with and admired,” Baldwin said. “And even now, I find it hard to believe that, it just doesn’t seem, it doesn’t seem real to me.”
When pressed by ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos about how “it wasn’t in the script for the trigger to be pulled,” Baldwin responded by claiming, “Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger.”
“So you never pulled the trigger?” Stephanopoulos pressed.
“No, no, no, no,” Baldwin claimed. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never.”
WATCH:
EXCLUSIVE: "The trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger," Alec Baldwin tells @GStephanopoulos in first interview since fatal shooting on set of "Rust."
Watch TOMORROW at 8pm ET on @ABC and stream later on @Hulu. https://t.co/u7L88vylra pic.twitter.com/bJsssJoAJq
— ABC News (@ABC) December 1, 2021
TRANSCRIPT:
ALEC BALDWIN: She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with and liked by everyone who worked with and admired. … And even now, I find it hard to believe that, it just doesn’t seem, it doesn’t seem real to me.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS HOST: You haven’t said much in public since that tragic accident. Why speak out now? … I think the big question and the one you must have asked yourself 1,000 times, how could this have happened? … You’ve described it as a one in a trillion shot, and the gun was in your hand. How do you come to terms with that? … It wasn’t in the script for the trigger to be pulled.
BALDWIN: Well, the trigger wasn’t pull. I didn’t pull the trigger.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So you never pulled the trigger?
BALDWIN: No, no, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never.
STEPHANOPOULOS: What did you think happened? … How did a real bullet get on that scene?
BALDWIN: I have no idea. Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.
STEPHANOPOULOS: How do you respond to actors like George Clooney who say that every time they were handed a gun, they checked it themselves? … Your emotions are so clearly, so right there on the surface. You felt shock. You felt anger. You felt sadness. Do you feel guilt? … You said you’re not a victim. But is this the worst thing that’s ever happened to you?
BALDWIN: Yes. Yeah. Yeah, because I, I think back and I think of what could I have done.
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