‘Rust’ Script Supervisor Sues Alec Baldwin: “There was nothing in the script indicating that a firearm was to have been discharged”
Rust script supervisor Mamie Mitchell just sued Alec Baldwin saying the script did not call for any gun to be discharged during the scene that led to the tragic shooting, Mitchell is the called 911 after the shooting.
She is represented by Gloria Allred. She is suing Alec and the other producers because claims she was injured from a gun firing four feet away. She is claiming assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and deliberate infliction of harm.
The suit says: “It was discussed that there would be [three] tight camera shots when filming resumed [after a lunch break]. One camera shot would be focused on DEFENDANT BALDWIN’s eyes, one would be focused on a bloodstain on DEFENDANT BALDWIN’s shoulder, and the third would focus on DEFENDANT BALDWIN’s torso as he reached his hand down to the holster and removed the gun.
“There was nothing in the script about the gun being discharged by DEFENDANT BALDWIN or by any other person.
“Alec Baldwin should have assumed that the gun in question was loaded unless and until it was demonstrated to him or checked by him that it was not loaded.
“He had no right to rely upon some alleged statement by the Assistant Director that it was a ‘cold gun.’ Mr. Baldwin cannot hide behind the Assistant Director to attempt to excuse the fact that he did not check the gun himself.”
The lawsuit also alleges the producers, “intended to cut through what was considered derisively as red tape common in Hollywood-based productions by running some of Rust‘s filmmaking apparatus out of Georgia and New Mexico.”
The head of lighting also filed a lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and two others. That suit alleged Baldwin and others were negligent and that the plaintiff has suffered “severe emotional distress.”
Serge Svetnoy said in the lawsuit that the bullet that killed his Halyna Hutchins barely missed him. “They should never, ever, have had live rounds on this set,” Svetnoy’s attorney Gary A. Dordick said.
The suit targets Baldwin because he “owed a duty to the Plaintiff and other crew members and actors on the ‘Rust’ set to handle the Colt Revolver provided to him by defendant Halls with reasonable care and diligence for the safety of ‘Rust’ cast and crew.”
The suit continues: “This duty called for Defendant Baldwin to double-check the Colt Revolver with Halls upon being handled to ensure that it did not contain live ammunition.
“What happened next will haunt Plaintiff forever.
“He felt a strange and terrifying whoosh of what felt like pressurized air from his right.
“He felt what he believed was gunpowder and other residual materials directly strike the right side of his face.”
The suit claims Baldwin was negligent as a producer on “Rust.” It says, ”They attempted to save money by hiring an insufficient number of crew members to safely handle the props and firearms.”
The suit says there were other issues on the set including violating industry norms, declining requests for weapons training days, failing to allow proper time to allow for gunfire, failing to send out safety bulletins and spreading the staff too thin.
The suit also claims the scene Baldwin was rehearsing did not call for him to pull the trigger, “the scene did not call for Defendant Baldwin to shoot the Colt Revolver.”
Instead, the scene called for Baldwin to draw the gun and point it in the general direction of the camera.