Famed director Quentin Tarantino said Alec Baldwin is "10% responsible" for the shooting on the “Rust” movie set that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
Tarantino made the comments on the Sunday episode of the “Club Random with Bill Maher” podcast.
Maher asked the "Pulp Fiction" director for his opinion on the “Rust” set shooting, asking, “How can it be his fault?”
“Like either you think he purposely shot that cinematographer or you think he didn’t purposely shoot her, and if he didn’t purposely shoot her then it’s all f***ing bulls**t, am I wrong?” Maher asked.
“It’s a situation, I think I’m being fair enough to say, that the armorer — the guy who handles the gun — the armorer is 90% responsible for everything that happens when it comes to that gun,” Tarantino replied. “But the actor is 10% responsible.”
“It’s a gun. You are a partner to responsibility to some degree,” he added.
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Baldwin was rehearsing a scene on the set of the Western drama in New Mexico on Oct. 21, 2021, when the prop revolver he was holding went off and fatally struck Hutchins, 42, and wounded director Joel Souza.
In the fallout, Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter. In July, a judge dismissed the case with prejudice saying prosecutors hid evidence that may have been linked to the shooting. The 66-year-old actor, who had pleaded not guilty to the charge, cried in court when the dismissal was announced.
The set's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and in April was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Tarantino explained there's protocol dealing with guns on set.
“They show it to you. If there are steps to go through, you go through them. There’s due diligence,” he said.
“What should she have done? Look into the barrel?” Maher asked. Tarantino said there are steps including showing the actor the barrel of the gun is clear.
Tarantino went on to explain while filming and encountering an issue with the gun, the onus is on the actor to flag any complications.
“If an actor knows he has three hot rounds in his gun and he knows that, 'Okay I’m going to do a scene' … If one of the rounds doesn’t go off while he does his bam bam bam then he should like cut the scene. And say, ‘Guys one of the rounds didn’t go off I think I’m holding a hot gun here,’” Tarantino said.
NBC News has reached out to representatives for Tarantino and Baldwin for comment.
The shooting shook Hollywood and sparked conversations about safety on film sets.
Maher asked the filmmaker if gun effects should be added in post production — but Tarantino opposed the idea.
“It’s exciting to shoot the blanks and to see the orange, the real orange fire, not add orange fire,” he said.
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