Alec Baldwin says he has no guilt about ‘Rust’ shooting, never pulled trigger

In an emotional Thursday interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Alec Baldwin laid out his version of events of what happened the day Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchinson was accidentally shot and killed. 

Baldwin spent the hour-long special expressing remorse over Hutchinson's death and revealed new details about the killing he says absolves him of any personal responsibility.

Hutchinson, 42, was declared dead at the hospital after a prop gun in Baldwin’s hand misfired with a live round inside, hitting her in the chest and injuring director Joel Souza, who was standing beside her.

"She was the loveliest woman, one of the loveliest women I've ever worked with, and one of the most professional in terms of her demeanor," Baldwin said, getting emotional.

He recalled meeting Hutchinson’s husband Matthew following the shooting, saying they embraced.

“I suppose we’re going to go through this together,” Mr. Hutchinson said, according to Baldwin.

During his exchange with Stephanopoulos, Baldwin kept the focus of the fatal misfire away from himself and onto the circumstances that led to a live round being loaded into his prop revolver.

He maintains that he did not pull the trigger, a position first shown in a trailer for the interview released Wednesday morning. He was rehearsing a scene in which he draws and points the gun at the camera, only cocking the hammer of the revolver in Hutchinson’s direction after she instructed him to do so.

"I let go of the hammer and the gun goes off," Baldwin told Stephanopoulos. "I never pulled the trigger."

This is corroborated by an attorney for assistant director Dave Halls, who reported that his client previously said “the entire time Baldwin had his finger outside the trigger guard, parallel to the barrel.”

Baldwin placed the blame on whoever had brought the live round onto the set. Investigators are still searching for the source of the .45 caliber bullet that killed Hutchinson.

"A live round isn't supposed to be anywhere near the set," Baldwin said. "I don't have anything to hide."

Baldwin insisted he did not wish to portray himself as a victim, but also felt no guilt.

"I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is,” Baldwin said. "But I know it’s not me."

He told Stephanopoulos that if he could, he "would go to any lengths to undo what happened."

Baldwin and Stephanopoulos also touched on former President Donald Trump’s comments on the shooting, calling it “surreal” that he would take advantage of a “tragic situation.”

Alec Baldwin has a lengthy history of anti-gun and leftist activism on Twitter, which led to critics pointing out the irony of the Rust incident.

“I wonder how it must feel to wrongfully kill someone…” the actor tweeted in 2017 when an Orange County police officer shot a violent suspect. The shooting was later ruled to be justified.

He has also joked about Dick Cheney accidentally shooting a hunting partner in the face in 2006.

It is unlikely Baldwin will be criminally charged. Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said that any potential charge tied to “involuntary killing” would need to meet the high bar of showing "the willful disregard for the safety of others.”