Alec Baldwin whined ‘I don’t want to be a public person’ after fatal shooting on ‘Rust’ set
Hours after Alec Baldwin shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust,” he whined in a phone call that he didn’t “want to be a public person” anymore and laughed with police, footage released Monday shows.
The video, recorded about three hours after the shooting in a Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office interview room, shows a disheveled Baldwin calling apparent members of his staff to bark orders and gripe about the incident before he speaks with police.
“I’m at the police station .. they’re about to interview me. How is everyone at home? How are the kids?” Baldwin is shown saying in the clip, released Monday by the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office.
When the person tries to offer a few words of sympathy, Baldwin cuts her off.
“What I am is someone who, I don’t want to do this anymore, I don’t, I don’t want to be a public person,” Baldwin seethes.
“I’m the one holding the gun in my hand and everybody was supposed to have taken care of. They always hand me a cold gun,” he continues before barking a series of questions and ending the conversation.
The actor then calls someone else and said he wanted them to come to Santa Fe as the investigation plays out.
“We’ll just spend the time here … We’ll go and enjoy ourselves,” Baldwin says.
“It’s all paid for and I’m going to get us the money back.”
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The woman on the other end, an apparent babysitter who answered questions about Baldwin’s children, asked if they should be “staying away from the vultures here” – a reference to paparazzi.
“Are they outside?” Baldwin asked.
“No, but I imagine they will be at some point,” the woman responds.
“I think that’s a great idea. You should come for that reason also.”
The woman then apologizes to Baldwin for what he’s going through and says she hopes that he’s OK.
“You have no idea how unbelievable this is and how strange this is and I’ll explain to you later,” he says.
A few minutes later, detectives come into the room to discuss the fatal mishap that left Hutchins, a married mother of one, dead and director Joel Souza injured. Before they start speaking, one of the detectives read Baldwin his rights.
“So, my only question is, am I being charged with something?” Baldwin asks before he and the officers started laughing.
“No, we’re just interviewing … It’s just a formality, we have to do it,” they said in response.
Baldwin then proceeds to recount the shooting and said he was rehearsing a scene and was under the impression the gun was cold when suddenly, it went off.
“I take the gun out slowly. I turn and cock the pistol. Bang! [Hutchins] hits the ground, she goes down. [Souza] goes down, screaming, he’s like ‘Jesus Christ,’” Baldwin recounts.
“It’s supposed to be a cold gun … Now this is a puzzle to me … this is making me very emotional.”
The footage, which is over an hour-long, was part of a trove of documents released by the sheriff’s office detailing their probe into the shooting. The files include crime scene photos, interviews with police, text messages from cast members’ phones and a host of other evidence.
