'Baldwin continues to increase my pain'—Cinematographer's mother boycotts 'Rust' screening
The mother of late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Olga Solovey, has refused to attend the world premiere of Rust at Poland's Camerimage festival on Wednesday. Solovey accused actor Alec Baldwin—who accidentally shot and killed Hutchins on set three years ago—of not apologizing for her daughter's death. The film is set to debut at a festival dedicated to cinematography achievements.
Baldwin's manslaughter case dismissed; Solovey filed negligence lawsuit
In July, Baldwin was up for an involuntary manslaughter trial in New Mexico, which was subsequently dismissed by a judge after the prosecution failed to provide evidence. Before this, Solovey filed a civil negligence lawsuit against Baldwin in June. On Tuesday, her lawyer Gloria Allred confirmed that Baldwin has requested a pause on the civil lawsuit against him and others involved in Hutchins's death.
Solovey expressed disappointment over Baldwin's actions
In a statement, Solovey said she was disappointed with Baldwin, accusing him of not apologizing and refusing to take responsibility for Hutchins's death. "Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her death," she said. She also slammed the decision to promote Rust as a way to profit off those involved in her daughter's demise.
'Rust' premiere dedicated to Hutchins; Baldwin not invited
The Camerimage festival clarified that Rust's screening is meant to pay tribute to Hutchins, who had once expressed her wish to present her work at the festival. Festival director Kazimierz Suwala said, "We didn't invite Alec Baldwin, and we never considered doing so. That would be too distracting." The film's director Joel Souza and cinematographer Bianca Cline will introduce the premiere on Wednesday. To note, earlier, many cinematographers had slammed the Rust premiere initiative as well.
'Rust' completed post-shooting as part of legal settlement
Rust was finished roughly 18 months after the horrific incident, with further production in Montana. Its completion was part of a legal settlement with Hutchins's widower Matthew Hutchins, who hoped some proceeds could be used to benefit their son. However, some payments to Hutchins's widower and son have not been made by the Rust producers, prompting their attorney to threaten to restart the lawsuit.
