What Alec Baldwin Is Calling On Hollywood To Do After The Accidental Rust Shooting

Actor-producer Alec Baldwin loves to make people laugh, as evidenced by his stint on "Saturday Night Live" impersonating ex-President Donald Trump, but lately, he's been in the news for a much more somber reason. While filming "Rust," Baldwin accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with a prop gun that was supposed to be "cold," according to CNN. Film director Joel Souza was also injured, but is expected to make a full recovery. Immediately following the incident, Baldwin took to Twitter to share his grief. "There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic incident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours," Baldwin said. "I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family."

In the wake of the accident, Baldwin's political opponents wasted no time in weighing in with their thoughts. Right-wing personality Candace Owens called the tragedy "poetic justice" for Baldwin's criticism of the former president. The Hill reported that Donald Trump Jr. even mocked up t-shirts with the slogan, "Guns don't kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people." The collective response is indicative of how gun control has increasingly divided Americans. (According to a 2020 Gallup poll, 22% of Republicans support gun restrictions, as opposed to 85% of Democrats.) Unsurprisingly, the tragedy has only fueled Baldwin's stance on gun control, and he recently called on Hollywood to implement additional safety measures on film sets.

According to The New York Times, Alec Baldwin was told that the prop gun he fired on the set of "Rust" was safe to use. Furthermore, the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, insisted that she had "no idea" that a live round had made its way into the gun. Other crew members spoke to People of "red flags" regarding gun safety on set and provided photographic evidence of guns stacked on tables, instead of locked away. The lax safety measures spurred Baldwin to take to social media in support of more protection for actors and filming staff. "Every film/TV set that uses guns, fake or otherwise, should have a police officer on set, hired by the production, to specifically monitor weapons safety," he wrote.

But Baldwin's plea may clash with others in Hollywood. In 2020, activists called for film studios to stop using police on set or at events after George Floyd's death by a police officer, according to Entertainment Weekly. The demands were made by a group called BLD PWR in a letter titled "Hollywood 4 Black Lives" and signed by industry heavy-hitters like Tessa Thompson, Tiffany Haddish, and Cynthia Erivo. Per Entertainment Weekly, BLD PWR aimed to "prove that Black Lives Matter to Hollywood by taking bold moves to affirm, defend and invest in Black lives." Thus far, the industry has not reacted to Baldwin's post, but it's safe to say not everyone will be a fan.