On Wednesday, the chief of lighting Serge Svetnoy sued Alec Baldwin and others for disregarding safety protocols and mishandling firearms at the set of Rust. He filed the suit in Los Angeles against Rust producers including Baldwin and others as well as two crew members–assistant director David Halls and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
The lawsuit stated that Svetnoy and Hutchins could be considered as “close friends” as they had worked together in nine films since 2017.
Earlier, Svetnoy had spoken on Facebook of how he was traumatized as he held Halyna in his arms as “she was dying” and that he had “her blood” on his hands. He had also shared a photo of Halyna Hutchins and said that it was her last photo on the set of Rust near Santa Fe, in New Mexico.
In the suit, Svetnoy said that he was hit by fragments from the bullet as it passed by his face. He said that he suffered from both “emotional” and “mental injuries.” On October 21, that fatal bullet hit cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and killed her. It then hit director Joel Souza who suffered from a shoulder injury.
The suit also stated that the film’s producers had breached their duties as they had allowed real ammunition to be stored on the set. It also says that the ammunition used was never “stored securely” and was “left unattended in the prop truck.”
Svetnoy’s attorney Gary A. Dordick said that the set had been “unsafe” as well as “dangerous” from the beginning. He also made allegations that Baldwin and other producers had cut corners to say money.
On Wednesday, at a news conference, Serge Svetnoy told reporters that his lawsuit had been filed to send a message to producers across the world. The message of the suit was that they should hire “professionals” and not try to save money when they hired crew.
Several news outlets reached out the Rust members who have been sued but have not received any response as yet. Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney Jason Bowles released a statement on Wednesday that questioned how live ammunition ended up in a dummies box and wondered who put it there.
