Filing: Alec Baldwin argues he’s protected from liability for ‘Rust’ shooting

In an arbitration filing, Alec Baldwin argued his contract protected him from financial liability in the deadly shooting on the set of “Rust” last October. Baldwin has been named in several civil lawsuits, including one from the widower of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died in the shooting.

That lawsuit was filed last month. In it, Matthew Hutchins argued Baldwin bore responsibility because he fired the gun and should have checked that it did not contain live rounds.

“We hired top experts and we really dug into what we could. We were able to obtain documents from other lawsuits and conducted our investigation,” attorney Brian Panish said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit. “And now we believe, as stated in the complaint, the allegations of the numerous violations of industry standards that occurred by Mr. Baldwin and others that were charged with safety on the set.”

In an arbitration demand filed against the lead producer and production company behind “Rust,” Baldwin sought to enforce a “broad indemnification clause” in his contract. In addition to playing the lead role in the film, Baldwin served as a producer. However, his attorneys said he only provided creative input and did not hire any of the crew member responsible for ensuring gun safety procedures were followed.

“At this point, two things are clear: someone is culpable for chambering the live round that led to this horrific tragedy, and it is someone other than Baldwin. Baldwin is an actor,” the filing said. “He didn’t announce that the gun was ‘cold’ when it really contained a live round; he didn’t load the gun; he didn’t check the bullets in the gun; he didn’t purchase the bullets; he didn’t make the bullets and represent that they were dummies; he wasn’t in charge of firearm safety on the set; he didn’t hire the people who supplied the bullets or checked the gun; and he played no role in managing the movie’s props. Each of those jobs was performed by someone else.”