Why Alec Baldwin Doesn't Feel Guilt About The Rust Shooting

The October 21 shooting on the set of the low-budget western "Rust" shocked the nation and sparked almost immediate calls to hold something responsible. Alec Baldwin was holding the antique Colt .45 revolver that went off, killing 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. The assistant director who handed him the prop had informed him it was a "cold gun," according to ABC News. 

Many were quick to lay the blame on Baldwin for failing to check the gun. That includes Donald Trump, who went so far as to suggest Baldwin may have loaded the gun on purpose, he said on Chris Stigall's podcast in November (via Insider). "He's a cuckoo-bird, he's a nutjob ... in my opinion, he had something to do with it. But if nothing else, how do you take a gun and just ... point it at this person and pull the trigger?" Trump said of the actor known for his impersonations of the former president on "Saturday Night Live."

However, Baldwin affirms he didn't pull the trigger, he told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in a December 2 interview, his first since the incident. Hutchins, who was directing him on how to hold the prop, told Baldwin to cock the gun, but not fire it. "I cock the gun ... And then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off," Baldwin told Stephanopoulos in the emotional exchange. Even though Baldwin is devastated, he believes he isn't guilty.

Alec Baldwin knows the responsibility for the tragic accident that killed Halyna Hutchins doesn't fall on him, and that is what is keeping him going, he told ABC News. When George Stephanopoulos asked him if he felt guilty, the actor was direct. "No. no. I might have killed myself if I thought I was responsible, and I don't say that lightly," Baldwin said. Baldwin didn't point the finger at anyone, but he spoke about the presence of live ammunition on the set. "Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn't even supposed to be on the property. Someone is ​responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me," he added.

Assistant director Dave Halls backed Baldwin's claims that he didn't fire the gun, his attorney, Lisa Torraco, told ABC News on December 2. "Dave has told me since the very first day I met him that Alec did not pull that trigger. His finger was never in the trigger guard," Torraco said. Even though believes he wasn't responsible for Hutchins's death, Baldwin believes actors will change their approach. "The actor's responsibility going this day forward is very different than it was the day before that," he said.

Baldwin told Stephanopoulos that he doesn't "give a s***" about his career anymore. On his Instagram, he said he cares only about his wife, Hilaria, and family. "Nothing else. I owe that to you."