Is Alec Baldwin Guilty? (Script & Sources)

Good morning, bad news: a few days ago, actor Alec Baldwin inadvertently shot and killed a cinematographer on the set of his latest movie - there’s no doubt you’ve been hearing a lot about it, and we normally don’t cover tragic accidents - but this tragic accident wasn’t just preventable, but inevitable. Alec Baldwin was responsible, but not for pulling the trigger. So here’s what happened, and here’s why we’re covering it.

On Thursday, during a rehearsal for the movie, “Rust”, which ironically is about an accidental killing, Baldwin was handed a prop gun, and informed that it was “cold”, meaning unloaded and safe to use. A week earlier, there had already been two accidental gun discharges, which should have prompted an immediate investigation and reinforcement of safety protocol. But the discharges weren’t reported.

During the fatal rehearsal, Baldwin fired the gun, which was armed, injuring director Joel Souza and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. 

In the aftermath of the accident, some were quick to blame Baldwin, saying that he should have checked if the gun was loaded, and even suggesting that it wasn’t an accident based on a fabricated quote from a fake news article. All of that is total nonsense - actors handle weapons in movies all the time, and it’s unambiguously understood that even with weapons training they are not weapons experts. In fact, this understanding is critical to maintaining weapon safety. Instead of assuming that anyone handling a weapon is responsible for it, responsibility is delegated to a crew member called an “armorer”, an on-set weapons expert who is the only other person handling weapons and making sure that they are safe.

So, what exactly went wrong? Well, for starters, the armorer was nowhere to be found. Baldwin was handed the gun by the film’s assistant director, who told him it was “cold”. The assistant director picked up the gun, not from the armorer, but from the armorer’s cart, and despite union regulations that not only prohibit that, but also require that all guns be test fired before use - that didn’t happen either.

And that’s why we’re talking about it - literally all safety regulations that surround movie production are the result of unions, and right now, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, or IATSE is close to the largest strike in Hollywood since World War Two, and for very good reason. Film executives and producers do not care about the health and safety of the people who work for them, despite raking in tens of billions of dollars in profit a year. In September, 99 percent of voting members authorized a strike, reflecting a very real and very dangerous problem in Hollywood.

The culture of a film production is very different from any other job - both because of the competitiveness of the industry and the non standard conditions, like limited shooting schedules and extremely tight deadlines. And because of that, film executives consistently take advantage of crew members, with practices like multiple 15-hour days in a row, missed meal and bathroom breaks, and the extremely common practice of flagrantly violating worker contracts, and just paying whatever penalty that incurs.

With the constant threat of being fired and replaced by scabs, or non-union members, workers have reported constant mistreatment and production companies doing everything they can to cut corners.

And the Baldwin case is a prime example. Throughout the production, workers reported unsafe conditions, excessively long workdays, even refusing to provide housing for the on-location shoots. Just six hours before the accident, a number of IATSE crew members walked off the set. Not only that, but the armorer team, who were responsible for weapons safety, were hired not because they were experienced, but because they were young, non-union, and thereby cheaper.

Do you see a pattern? Unions advocate for safer working conditions, while movie producers advocate for cheaper working conditions, and by all accounts this tragic accident was the result of too many corners cut, and not enough oversight or care, even in the face of multiple accidents that should have immediately shut down production to figure out what went wrong.

And as it turns out, Alec Baldwin was one of the producers on this movie. As an actor, it’s unfair to blame him for the accident, he doesn’t have a responsibility to check the prop weapons he is handed. But as the producer, Baldwin had a direct responsibility in making sure the production was operating safely, and there were plenty of warning signs that it wasn’t.

And this exact kind of carelessness is the entire reason that so many unions, not just in Hollywood, but across multiple major industries, are striking and fighting for better working conditions. Without them, accidents aren’t just preventable, they’re inevitable.