Alec Baldwin says he did not pull the trigger in the Rust shooting tragedy that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
The actor broke down in tears when talking about Hutchins in the emotional interview.
The 42-year-old cinematographer was fatally wounded while the Rust movie director Joel Souza was injured when a gun handed to Baldwin went off during a rehearsal on the set of the movie.
Baldwin was reportedly handed a gun by first assistant director Dave Halls who yelled “cold gun” to indicate the weapon was not live with ammunition before the incident.
The Departed actor was questioned by Sante Fe Sheriff’s but has not been charged in the shooting or death of Hutchins.
A 911 call was released following the shooting in which the caller directed blame at Dave Halls.
After being followed by paparazzi, Baldwin gave an impromptu interview with his wife, Hilaria, while attempting to maintain a low profile.
Alec Baldwin claims he didn’t pull the trigger
In a promo for the ABC interview, Baldwin’s first official sit-down since the shooting, George Stephanopoulos asked the actor to confirm that it wasn’t in the script for the trigger to be pulled as some reports have suggested per BBC.
“Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin said in response.
Stephanopoulos asks Baldwin to confirm, “So you never pulled the trigger?” to which Baldwin responds:
“No, no, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Never.”
It appears the 63-year old is suggesting a firearm malfunction.
“What do you think happened?” Stephanopoulos asked Baldwin in the promo, adding: “how did a real bullet get on that set?” to which Baldwin responded:
“I have no idea; someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
A new search warrant authorizing the search of an Albuquerque prop house owned by Seth Kenney.
According to Variety, the person in question is a weapons expert who supplied the guns for the Rust movie set.
Alec Baldwin gets emotional discussing Hutchins
While discussing Hutchins, Baldwin describes the late cinematographer as “someone who was loved by everyone she worked with and liked by everyone who worked with [her] and admired,” before breaking down in tears.
The interview with Baldwin will air on ABC as an hour-long special on Thursday, December 2, at 8 p.m. ET. In addition, it will be available for streaming on Hulu after airing on television.
On Friday, December 10, a 20/20 episode will look into the events on the Rust set which led up to the tragedy.
The investigation and lawsuits pertaining to Halyna Hutchins’s death are still pending.