Alec Baldwin publishes letter from ‘Rust’ team and denies ‘chaotic’ workplace

Alec Baldwin, 63, on Instagram shared a letter signed by 25 members of the film’s “Rust” crew on Instagram after criticizing working conditions on set, where an accidental gunshot killed director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, on the 21st of October.

With the letter, the actor intends to present a more accurate account of the incident because “he believes that the public narrative surrounding our workplace tragedy is inadequate”. According to him, the document was not sanctioned or influenced in any way by the producers.

Signing the letter production team members accounting, assistant directors, casting, camera, art, objects, special effects, electrical, costumes, hair, makeup departments, sound, locations, doctors, animal caretakers, health and safety, transportation, craft, catering, acrobatics, construction and production services.

“We are grieving the loss of our friend and colleague Halyna Hutchins. She was, in many ways, at the center of our production, and losing her has hurt each of us. We are suffering for our friends who have been targeted by the public, as they themselves suffer,” says the letter.

The letter says that the descriptions of the set of “Rust” as a chaotic, dangerous and exploitative workplace are false and mislead what matters most: the memory of Halyna Hutchins. “The need to find modern alternatives to firearms and outdated industry safety practices.”

Deadline understands that the public letter was spearheaded by “Rust” costume designer Terese Magpale Davis, who posted a lengthy Facebook defense on Oct. 30 about the production of the independent Western. The post was also reposted by Baldwin on his Instagram.

In the publication, Davis attacked film crew members who resigned over financial and security reasons just hours before the “cold gun” was fired by Baldwin, killing Halyna Hutchins and injuring Joel Souza. Davis called these team members “non-heroes” and “idiots” while praising the “Rust” producers as “some of the most approachable and warmest people I’ve ever worked with.”

“Unfortunately, in the film industry it’s common to work in unprofessional or agitated productions to gain experience and credit. Many of us have worked in this type of production. ‘Rust’ was not one of them. ‘Rust’ was professional,” the letter says. .

The group acknowledges in the document that no set is perfect and like any production “Rust” had areas of shine and areas that were more challenging. “Although we are firm with our unions and we strongly support the fight for better working conditions in our sector, we did not feel that this assembly was a representation of the kind of conditions our unions are fighting against.”

The group claims that work morale “was high.” Laughter and optimism were common among cast and crew. Chief electrician Serge Svetnoy and script supervisor Mamie Mitchell disagreed with the rest of the team and filed suits against the production, saying the workplace was unsafe.