Slain cinematographer's husband angry Baldwin deflects blame
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The husband of a cinematographer shot and killed on the set of the film 'œRust'ť says it's 'œabsurd'ť that Alec Baldwin believes he's not to blame for the shooting and he was 'œso angry'ť when Baldwin didn't accept responsibility.
The remarks made in excerpts released Wednesday from an interview with the 'œToday'ť show are the first public words from Matt Hutchins on the Oct. 21 death of his wife Halyna Hutchins.
'œThe idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me,'ť Matt Hutchins told 'ťToday" host Hoda Kotb in the interview that airs in full Thursday.
Baldwin said in a December interview with ABC News that he was pointing the gun at Halyna Hutchins at her instruction on the New Mexico set of the Western when it went off without his pulling the trigger, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza.
'œWatching him I just felt so angry,'ť Hutchins said. 'ťI was just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her."
Baldwin said in his interview that 'œsomeone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but it's not me.'ť
Matt Hutchins added that 'œgun safety was not the only problem on that set.'ť
'œThere were a number of industry standards that were not practiced,'ť he said, 'œand there's multiple responsible parties.'ť
Matt Hutchins and his 9-year-old son are the plaintiffs in a wrongful death lawsuit filed last week that names Baldwin, the film's producers and others as defendants.
It alleges that Baldwin, who was also a producer on the film, and his co-producers showed 'œcallous'ť disregard in the face of safety complaints, and their 'œreckless conduct and cost-cutting measures" led directly to her death.
Baldwin's attorney Aaron Dyer responded that any claim the actor was reckless is 'œentirely false.'ť
At least four other lawsuits have been filed over the shooting, but Hutchins' is the first directly tied to one of the two people shot.
Last month Baldwin turned over his cellphone to investigators, and Dyer said he continues to cooperate fully with the investigation.
Investigators have described 'œsome complacency'ť in how weapons were handled on the 'œRust'ť set. They have said it is too soon to determine whether charges will be filed.