Alec Baldwin Rust settlement has ‘no impact’ on criminal investigation, prosecutors say
Santa Fe’s district attorney has said the settlement between Alec Baldwin, Rust producers and the family of Halyna Hutchins will have “no impact” on the ongoing criminal investigation into her death – and that “no one is above the law”.
A spokesperson for Mary Carmack-Altwies issued a statement following the announcement of the undisclosed civil settlement, saying charges could still be brought.
Hutchins, a cinematographer, died after a prop gun held by Baldwin was discharged during rehearsals for western film Rust on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set in New Mexico in October 2021, and her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the star and others who worked on the production earlier this year.
Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of Rust last year. Pic: Swen Studios/ Reuters
Lawyers for her husband Matthew Hutchins, the Hollywood film star and other producers have now confirmed this has been settled – and that filming is due to resume in 2023, with Mr Hutchins taking an executive producer role.
In a statement shared with Sky News, Heather Brewer, spokesperson for the Office of the First Judicial District Attorney, said this would not affect the criminal investigation.
“The proposed settlement in Matthew Hutchins’ wrongful death case against Rust movie producers, including Alec Baldwin, in the death of Halyna Hutchins, will have no impact on District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies’ ongoing investigation or her ultimate decision whether to file criminal charges in the case,” the statement said.
“While civil suits are settled privately and often involve financial awards, criminal cases deal only in facts.
“If the facts and evidence warrant criminal charges under New Mexico law then charges will be brought. No one is above the law.”
Filming on Rust will pick up in January 2023, with director Joel Souza – who was wounded in the incident – returning to helm the project.
“In my own attempts to heal, any decision to return to finish directing the film could only make sense for me if it was done with the involvement of Matt and the Hutchins family,” he said following the settlement announcement.
Director Joel Souza is returning to the production. Pic: Ron Adar/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
What did Baldwin, the Rust producers and Mr Hutchins say about the settlement?
Baldwin is a producer for the film, as well as its star.
Confirming the settlement, he thanked all those who “contributed to the resolution of this tragic and painful situation” and said they all wanted to “do what is best for Halyna’s son”.
Mr Hutchins said he has “no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr Baldwin)”, and added: “All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”
A lawyer for Rust Movie Productions said: “We are pleased the parties came together to resolve this matter, which, subject to court approval, marks an important step forward in celebrating Halyna’s life and honouring her work.”
Almost a year on, no charges have been filed in connection with the incident.
In an on-camera interview a few weeks afterward, Baldwin recalled the moments leading up to the tragedy. He said he was handed the revolver and told “this is a cold gun” – an industry term meaning it was either empty or loaded with dummy rounds.
He said the gun went off accidentally and that he did not pull the trigger. However, a recent FBI forensic report found the weapon could not have been fired unless the trigger was pulled.
The settlement comes after a report found the film’s production company “knew that firearm safety procedures were not being followed on set” and “demonstrated plain indifference to employee safety”.
Read more: Who was Halyna Hutchins?
Rust Movie Productions was fined $136,793 (£104,810), the maximum allowable by state law in New Mexico, following a six-month investigation by the state’s environment department.
Baldwin and the Rust producers also face a case brought by script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, although a Los Angeles judge recently ruled they would not have to face its central claims of assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Davina McCall has said her short-term memory is “a bit remiss” as she recovers from brain tumour surgery.
Speaking from her bed, the visibly emotional TV presenter posted a short video updating her Instagram followers on her condition, saying it had been a “mad” time.
She expressed an “enormous heartfelt thank you” to people who had messaged her after she revealed this month she had a benign brain tumour, a colloid cyst, which she described as “very rare”.
Looking bright, but with a visibly bruised left eye, McCall said: “My short-term memory is a bit remiss.
“But that is something I can work on, so I’m really happy about that. I’m writing everything down, to keep myself feeling safe.”
She added: “It’s been mad, and it’s just really nice to be back home, I’m on the other side.”
In a message posted with the video, she reiterated her thanks for all the support she has received, adding: “Had a great night’s sleep in my own bed. Have a couple of sleeps during the day which keeps my brain clear… Slowly, slowly…”
When she first shared her diagnosis, she said chances of having it were “three in a million” and that she had discovered it several months previously after a company offered her a health scan in return for giving a menopause talk.
The 57-year-old star said support from her fans had “meant the world”.
She said she was being “brilliantly looked after” by her partner, hairdresser Michael Douglas, and her stepmother, Gabby, who she calls mum.
Becoming tearful, the presenter said: “I’d quickly like to say big up the stepmums. I don’t really say thank you to Gabby enough. She’s been an amazing rock my whole life.”
McCall was estranged from her birth mother, Florence McCall, who died in 2008.
McCall with 2002 Big Brother winner Kate Lawler. Pic: Rex Features
With a catch in her voice, McCall went on: “I’ve got a massive dose of vitamin G – I’m just really grateful. I’ve always been really lucky in my life, but I feel unbelievably grateful right now. So, thanks for everything, all of you.
“I’m on the mend, I’m resting and sleeping loads and I feel really good. I’m just very lucky.”
Stars including presenter Alison Hammond, singer Craig David and radio host Zoe Ball quickly shared their delight at the positive update.
McCall rose to fame presenting on MTV in the mid-1990s, and later on Channel 4’s Streetmate, before becoming a household name as the host of Big Brother from 2000 to 2010.
McCall with her MBE, alongside her partner Michael Douglas and her daughter Holly Robertson. Pic: PA
She’s gone on to present programmes across the networks, the most recent being ITV dating show My Mum, Your Dad.
Last year, McCall was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting.
Married twice, McCall has three children, two daughters and a son, with her second husband, presenter Matthew Robertson.
She has lived with Douglas since 2022, and they present a weekly lifestyle podcast together, Making The Cut.
Barbara Taylor Bradford, the bestselling novelist who wrote A Woman Of Substance, has died at the age of 91.
The Leeds-born author, who sold more than 90 million books, died peacefully at her home on Sunday after a short illness and was “surrounded by loved ones to the very end”, a spokeswoman said.
Taylor Bradford, who was often labelled “the grand dame of blockbusters”, hit the big time when A Woman Of Substance was published in 1979, making her an overnight success.
The story sold millions of copies and traced the journey of Emma Harte from life as a servant in rural Yorkshire to heading a business empire.
The rags to riches story was followed by many other successful books with the author’s works being published in more than 40 languages across 90 countries.
Pic: Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA
The author on her 21st birthday. Pic: Bradford Enterprises/PA
Charlie Redmayne, chief executive of publisher HarperCollins, said the author was a “natural storyteller”, adding: “Barbara Taylor Bradford was a truly exceptional writer whose first book, the international bestseller A Woman Of Substance, changed the lives of so many who read it – and still does to this day.”
Taylor Bradford, who was made an OBE in 2007 for services to literature, wrote a total of 40 novels during her career – her most recent was The Wonder Of It All, published last year.
Pic: Caroll Taveras/Bradford Enterprises/PA
Taylor Bradford with her husband Robert in 1993. Pic: PA
Born in May 1933 as the only child of Winston and Freda Taylor, she worked as a typist for the Yorkshire Evening Post before becoming a reporter and then the paper’s first woman’s editor.
At the age of 20, she moved to London and worked in Fleet Street for Woman’s Own and the London Evening News.
She met her husband, American film producer Robert Bradford, in 1961 and they married in London on Christmas Eve in 1963 before moving to New York the following year.
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The couple were married for 55 years until he died from a stroke in 2019.
Following a private funeral in New York, the author will be buried alongside her late husband at the city’s Westchester Hills Cemetery.
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