An emotional Alec Baldwin told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he did not pull the trigger on the prop gun that fatally wounded cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust.”
In his first extensive interview regarding the fatal shooting that has rocked Hollywood for the past two months, Baldwin insisted that “the trigger wasn’t pulled” when a “live round” was discharged and ended up mortally wounding Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
The exclusive interview will air Thursday at 8 p.m. on ABC, then stream later that evening on Hulu. A two-hour “20/20” about the deadly shooting will air Friday, Dec. 10, and also stream on Hulu the next day.
As you can see the video below, after Stephanopoulos tells Baldwin that “it wasn’t in the script for the trigger to be pulled,” Baldwin responded by saying “the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger.”
Stephanopoulos : So you never pulled the trigger?
Baldwin: No no no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger. Never.
According to official accounts of the incident from Oct. 21, Baldwin was handed the firearm after being told it was a “cold gun.”
A criminal investigation is still ongoing and no charges have been filed. A previous search warrant released on Oct. 27 mentioned that “Rust” assistant director Dave Halls did not thoroughly check the guns used on set as he says he should have done. And on Tuesday, authorities released a fourth search warrant looking at the gun supplier for the film located in Albuquerque in an attempt to determine how live ammunition appeared on the film’s set.
Baldwin in the clip said he has “no idea” about how the live round appeared in the gun, a “bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.” Baldwin was also pressed in the clip by Stephanopoulos about recent comments by actors like George Clooney, who said that the actor too shares the responsibility for checking a firearm whenever they’re handed it.
You can watch the preview in the video below:
Baldwin, who is facing civil lawsuits for the October “Rust” incident, will discuss the shooting during the interview, which is being produced by George Stephanopoulos Productions. The “20/20” episode, per the network, will look at “what went wrong” and feature new interviews while incorporating the Baldwin sit-down.
Though he has not given any interviews since the shooting, Baldwin has been vocal with his condolences to Hutchins’ family. The actor spoke to photographers in Vermont a week after the incident and said he was cooperating with police and has been speaking to them every day since the incident. Baldwin maintained at the time that he could not speak on the active investigation, but he said that he was “extremely interested” in limiting the use of firearms on film sets moving forward, and he even more recently advocated for the required hiring of police officers to monitor guns on all sets.