Alec Baldwin argued about horseback riding on the set of Rust to the point that “a bit of yelling” took place, according to a safety advisor who worked on the Western movie after production resumed following the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Hutchins died from gunshot wound injuries after a loaded gun went off in Baldwin’s hand on the set of the movie in October 2021.
Now, on-set safety advisor Paul Jordan — who was not present at the time of Hutchins death, but who worked with Baldwin after production resumed 18 months later — is set to testify at the actor’s involuntary manslaughter trial. It’s scheduled to begin next week in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where the production was filming at the time of Hutchins’ death.
After production on Rust resumed in 2023, safety was, of course, a big priority. But Jordan says Baldwin tried to ignore advice when it came to riding horses at a fast gallop.
Rust Safety Advisor on Working With Alec Baldwin on Rust Set
“There was a little bit of yelling at times, insisting he could do certain things that everyone else felt he couldn’t do,” Jordan testified in a pre-trial interview.
Jordan explained that Baldwin, who has a bad hip, needed the help of multiple people in order to mount the horse, but he still wanted to ride very quickly over uneven ground. The safety officers advised him to keep it at a slow walk, but according to Jordan, Baldwin disagreed.
“We took the gallop out of it completely,” Jordan said. “He just kept insisting that he was capable of doing it, and we didn’t feel he was.”
Baldwin relented and ended up agreeing to slow down on the horse “very reluctantly,” Jordan added.
Jordan’s testimony will be used by prosecutors to demonstrate what they argue is an ongoing pattern of disregarding safety from Baldwin. But Baldwin’s attorneys argue that what happened on the Montana set 18 months after Hutchins’ death shouldn’t be used against him.
“Nothing that took place in Montana, more than a year after the accident occurred, is relevant to any issue in this case,” the defense argued in a motion to stop Jordan’s testimony, according to Variety.
Last week, New Mexico Judge Mary Sommer denied Baldwin’s motion to have his involuntary manslaughter charges dismissed. Baldwin has denied any wrongdoing in Hutchins’ death. He has said that the gun went off in his hand without him pulling the trigger.
In March, Rust movie set armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 months in prison in April.
The sentence was handed down by Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer in a Santa Fe courtroom.
Rust director Joel Souza, who was also injured alongside Hutchins in the 2021 on-set accidental shooting, gave a statement about the impact of Hutchins’ death along with other friends and family of the cinematographer over video at Gutierrez-Reed’s sentencing.
“What I want is simply not possible. What I want is, everyone is OK and lives aren’t destroyed,” Souza said, according to CBS News.
“One moment the world made sense, and the next moment, it didn’t. It still doesn’t, and I don’t know if it ever will again,” he told the courtroom through a virtual call. “Those of us who were lucky enough to have shared in her [Hutchins’] fleeting time on this planet are better for it.”
Gutierrez-Reed’s involuntary manslaughter conviction was the first verdict a jury reached in Hutchins death, and may serve as a blueprint for how Baldwin’s own involuntary manslaughter trial could play out later this month.
Baldwin’s lawyers argue that the gun was modified, making it possible for it to go off without the trigger being pulled. Prosecutors argue that it was functioning normally and could not have fired without Baldwin squeezing the trigger.
Judge Sommer said her reasoning for denying Baldwin’s motion to have his manslaughter charges dismissed was because his lawyers could not prove that prosecutors had damaged the gun, according to Reuters.
Rust has not yet been released.
Main Image: Alec Baldwin speaking at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con International, for “The Boss Baby”, at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, California. Photo by Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons
