Tag: Rust

For Some Perplexing Reason, Alec Baldwin Is Suing the ‘Rust’ Crew

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Actor and producer Alec Baldwin has filed a lawsuit against the crew behind his film Rust in an attempt to “clear his name” after being held responsible for the actions which led to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last October.

CNN reports that Baldwin’s team filed a “cross-complaint” against the following:

[…] the production’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, assistant director David Halls, armorer assistant Seth Kenney, the prop weapon and ammunition supply store company Kenney owns, and prop master Sarah Zachry.

In the cross-complaint, it is said explicitly that this is being done in order to “clear” Alec Baldwin’s name of being seen as the “perpetrator of this tragedy” and is an attempt to “hold Cross-Defendants accountable for their misconduct.”

“This tragedy happened because live bullets were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun, Gutierrez Reed failed to check the bullets or the gun carefully, Halls failed to check the gun carefully and yet announced the gun was safe before handing it to Baldwin, and Zachry failed to disclose that Gutierrez Reed had been acting recklessly off set and was a safety risk to those around her. […] These Cross Defendants are professionals who owed a duty to those on set, including Baldwin, to keep the set safe. Everyone on set, including Baldwin, expected and trusted them to do so. Hutchins never would have instructed Baldwin to point the gun in her direction and pull back the hammer if she thought the slightest possibility existed that it was loaded; Baldwin, who shared the same state of mind as Hutchins in that critical moment, wouldn’t have done so under such conditions.”

He is suing for damages.

I have no idea what it must feel like to know that your hand was on the trigger when someone died. It was a tragic accident that highlighted numerous issues with the way in which union workers and others are treated on set. Multiple people made mistakes to get to the point where Halyna Hutchins died on set. Baldwin was a producer and was holding the gun. The set was already dealing with safety issues before this happened. He is, without a doubt, part of the issue, and his attitude following the shooting has only served to make him seem like a more of a villain.

These are actions made in trauma, and if Baldwin had handled any of this better, I would understand, but suing the crew and highlighting their inadequacies, when he is a producer, doesn’t make him look better. He lost his friend. He should take time to mourn for that, settle with the family of Halyna Hutchins, and enjoy the comfort of his newborn child. This is not helpful, healthy, or something that will stop accidents like this from happening in the future unless we ensure the safety and regulation of everyone on sets.

(via CNN, featured image: Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images for National Geographic)

—The Mary Sue has a strict comment policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—

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Princess Weekes

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November 14, 2022
The ‘Rust’ Shooting, Over One Year Later: Everything You Need To Know

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Friday marked the one year anniversary of the Rust shooting, when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot when a gun held by actor Alec Baldwin fired on a New Mexico movie set, and while criminal charges have yet to be filed in relation to the incident, the shooting has led to other lawsuits, “sabotage” conspiracies and dark speculation from a former president.

October 21, 2021The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department says two people are shot on the set of Rust when a prop gun is fired: Hutchins dies from her injuries at a local hospital while director Joel Souza survives a gunshot to his shoulder.

October 22, 2021Baldwin is identified as the shooter of the weapon, which was reported to contain live ammo, and in his first statement he calls the incident a “tragic accident” and says he is cooperating with authorities.

October 25, 2021Following reports that crew members walked off the set the morning before the shooting in protest of poor working conditions, including gun safety issues, police release a search warrant saying Baldwin believed the gun was “cold,” or empty, that live ammo was not supposed to be present on set and that Baldwin was handed the weapon by assistant director Dave Halls, who had an alleged history of being lax with weapons on another project.

October 27, 2021Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza says over 500 rounds of ammunition, including suspected live rounds, have been discovered on set, and in addition to Halls, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed handled the weapon before Baldwin did; District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies says all options “are on the table” regarding charges.

November 3, 2021Following a statement from Halls’ attorney saying her client does not know if he handed the gun to Baldwin and denying responsibility for the weapon, lawyers for Gutierrez-Reed suggest the live round could have been placed on set in an act of “sabotage,” a claim Carmack-Altwies later says there is no evidence of.

November 8, 2021Former president Donald Trump, whom Baldwin mocked for years on Saturday Night Live, suggests in an interview Baldwin loaded the weapon and that “he had something to do with,” the shooting, a claim Baldwin later says made him fear for his safety.

November 10, 2021In the first legal action taken over the shooting, Baldwin, Halls, Gutierrez-Reed and other crew members are sued for negligence by the production’s chief of lighting; another suit is later filed by the script supervisor alleging Baldwin wasn’t required to discharge the gun in the scene.

December 2, 2021In his first interview about the shooting, Baldwin claims he “didn’t pull the trigger” of the gun in his hand, and that he was told by people “within the state” that it’s “highly unlikely” he will face charges related to the shooting.

February 15, 2022Baldwin and others are sued by Hutchins’ widower Matthew and their son Andros for wrongful death, claiming her loss of life was caused by their “reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures.”

April 20, 2022Rust Movie Productions is fined by the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, based on findings it “knew that firearm safety procedures were not being followed on set” and “demonstrated plain indifference to employee safety,” a decision the production company later appeals; Baldwin’s attorney claims the report “exonerates” his client.

August 11, 2022The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department says it still needs to complete a review of a report conducted by the New Mexico Office Of The Medical Investigator and review Baldwin’s phone records in order to complete the investigation and pass its findings onto the district attorney.

August 14, 2022An FBI forensic report determines the weapon in Baldwin’s hand during the shooting could not be fired without the trigger being pulled when it was in half- and quarter-cock positions; Baldwin’s lawyer says the report was “being misconstrued,” and says “the FBI was unable to fire the gun in any prior test, even when pulling the trigger, because it was in such poor condition.”

September 22, 2022The New Mexico Board of Finance grants the district attorney’s office over $300,000 to be used to potentially prosecute up to four people in connection to the shooting, and “one of the possible defendants is well known movie actor Alec Baldwin,” the request for the funds says, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

October 5, 2022Baldwin, Rust Movie Productions, Halls and Gutierrez-Reed settle the wrongful death lawsuit with Hutchins’ family for an undisclosed amount; Matthew Hutchins calls his wife’s death “a terrible accident,” and it’s announced he will be an executive producer of the movie when filming resumes in January.

October 21, 2022 On the first anniversary of the shooting, a spokesperson for Carmack-Altweis said as soon as she receives the “full report from the Santa Fe County Sheriff, she and her team of professional attorneys and investigators will thoroughly review all the evidence and make a thoughtful decision about whether to bring charges against those involved.”

October 27, 2022A spokesperson for Carmack-Altweis says the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s department has completed its investigation into the shooting, and prosecutors have begun reviewing the information “to make a thoughtful, timely decision about whether to bring charges.”

It’s still publicly unknown how live ammunition, which was not supposed to be present on set, made its way onto the project and into the weapon. Gutierrez-Reed in January sued the supplier that provided the ammunition for the production, claiming it sent both dummy and live rounds.

Baldwin served as both the film’s star and one of its producers, but has maintained that his role as a decision maker on-set only involved creative choices. Because of Baldwin’s stark opposition to former President Trump and his firestorm SNL impersonations, many of Trump’s diehard supporters have harped on the shooting as an opportunity to get back at the actor, or suggest his liberal views are the reason he hasn’t faced criminal charges. Shortly after the shooting, Donald Trump Jr. began selling shirts that said “Guns don’t kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people.” The actor took a hiatus from public work following the shooting. In February he began narrating the podcast Art Fraud, and is starring in two Christmas movies.

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Marisa Dellatto, Forbes Staff

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October 27, 2022
No Man’s Sky Update Made Player Inventories ‘Unrecognizable’

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Image: Hello Games

Last week’s comprehensive update to No Man’s Sky brought with it a host of changes. Some made the game far more malleable and approachable, while others, like tweaks to inventory mechanics, have been the subject of controversy within the community. Seemingly in response to the backlash, Hello Games appears to be making some adjustments to how the inventory works in the game’s experimental PC build.

No Man’s Sky’s “Waypoint” update brought with it a sudden change to the game’s inventory system. Naturally, the term “inventorygate” has developed in response. The result has been the usual rush of memes, review bombs, since-locked Reddit threads with gamers arguing over whether the game is “ruined” or not. Those upset over the changes have a point, however: The updated inventory layout limits players to three tech upgrade slots, capping potential power levels below what they were pre-update. However, the game’s October 10 experimental build added additional upgrade slots, suggesting the devs are looking to address the playerbase’s fairly widespread outrage.

An experimental update, however, might not be enough to quell the frustration many have aired. Steam reviews alone have taken a recent trend toward a “Mixed” status, with many specifically calling out the inventory changes. “The most recent update essentially deleted dozens of hours of grinding,” reads one Steam review. “With the new 4.0 update my inventories are unrecognizable and after all the grind time I have spent it all seems useless,” reads another.

The backlash hasn’t been universal, though. While many are “complaining that they worked 100+ hours for upgrades that are now functionally useless,” as one Reddit thread puts it, others have found that the tweaks and restrictions bring more balance and challenge to the game. The negative responses do appear to be the loudest, however, and it’s uncertain if those have influenced Hello Games’ decision to expand the slots in the experimental build.

The experimental build patch notes on Steam note that Hello Games has added “additional free technology slots,” both for players newly updating their game to the Waypoint version and folks who already have existing saves. You can access No Man’s Sky’s experimental build by right-clicking on the game in your Steam library, selecting “Properties,” navigating to “Betas,” entering the password “3xperimental”, and choosing the “Experimental” build.

Pictured: Above is the more limited inventory of the current build. Below reveals the expanded slots in the experimental version.
Image: Hello Games / Kotaku

The changes are clearly visible on a brand-new save I created to test with. As expected, the regular, stable, build of the game only provides three possible technology slots at the top. Updating to the experimental build, however, doubles the slots on the top row. Further updates to the beta branch since October 10 also fix other issues many had with unlocking inventory slots and navigating the menu overall.

Though these changes have yet to be merged into No Man’s Sky’s stable build, there is no indication yet as to when or if these will be made permanent. Kotaku has reached out to Hello Games for comment.

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Claire Jackson

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October 14, 2022