Some of the producers of the film “Rust” are seeking an exit from a lawsuit filed by the parents and sister of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was fatally shot when a prop gun wielded by Alec Baldwin discharged on the movie set in 2021.
Attorneys for Rust Movie Productions LLC, Thomasville Pictures LLC, Ryan Smith and Langley Allen Cheney filed court papers on Tuesday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael E. Whitaker arguing that the two loss of consortium claims as they pertain to those defendants should be dismissed.
“California does not recognize a loss of consortium cause of action for parents or siblings,” according to the producers’ attorneys, who also state in their court papers that the two loss of consortium claims are “duplicative.”
The new lawsuit was filed Feb. 9 on behalf of Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey; father, Anatolii Androsovych; and younger sister, Svetlana Zemko. All three are Ukrainian citizens, living near Kiev. The filing came just months after a separate legal action filed by Hutchins’ husband was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount, with a stipulation that the filming of “Rust” would continue with Matthew Hutchins serving as a producer.
Baldwin, who along with the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is among the co-defendants in the suit by the parents and sibling, has repeatedly denied culpability in Hutchins’ death, which occurred Oct. 21, 2021, inside a church building on the Western set of “Rust” outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin was wielding a prop gun, helping set up camera angles for an upcoming scene, when the weapon discharged, killing Hutchins, 42, and wounding director Joel Souza, now 49.
Baldwin has insisted that he was told the gun wasn’t loaded when it was handed to him. He also contends that while he pulled back the hammer of the weapon, he never pulled the trigger.
Regardless, the actor was charged in January with involuntary manslaughter, as was Gutierrez-Reed.
Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikas, previously called the charges “a terrible miscarriage of justice.”
“Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set,” Nikas said. “He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
The suit by the parents and sister also alleges battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, neither of those causes of action pertain to the producers involved in the upcoming motion, which is scheduled for hearing April 27.