‘Rust’ premiered on Wednesday at the Camerimage Festival in Poland, three years after Alec Baldwin accidentally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on set in New Mexico. Hutchins’ mother, Olga Solovey, who is suing the production and Baldwin, did not attend the event.
Solovey explained her absence in a statement issued by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, on Tuesday: “It was always my hope to meet my daughter in Poland to watch her work come alive on screen. Unfortunately, that was ripped away from me when Alec Baldwin discharged his gun and killed my daughter.”
“Alec Baldwin continues to increase my pain with his refusal to apologize to me and his refusal to take responsibility for her death. Instead, he seeks to unjustly profit from his killing of my daughter. That is the reason why I refuse to attend the festival for the promotion of ‘Rust,’ especially now when there is still no justice for my daughter.”
Production on ‘Rust’ wrapped up around 18 months after the fatal shooting. The filming followed a legal settlement with Hutchins’ husband, saying some of the film’s profits would go to their son who was nine at the time of his mother’s death.
The producers failed to make required payments to the widower and his son so far, prompting their lawyer to threaten another legal action. The repeated delays in the film’s distribution are said to hold up the fee.
The late cinematographer’s parents and sister filed a separate lawsuit that is still ongoing against the production in New Mexico amid these issues.
Meanwhile, the court dropped a manslaughter charge against Baldwin, ruling that the prosecution had not shared all necessary evidence with the defense. The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, is serving an 18-month sentence for loading a live round into the gun used by the actor.
