Actor Alec Baldwin says that he is complying with a warrant to have his cell phone investigated following the shooting death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of his film, Rust. (Photo: Jim Spellman/Getty Images)
Alec Baldwin wants to make a few things clear.
The actor, 63, posted a video on his Instagram page on Saturday stating that he is complying with a search warrant to investigate his iPhone following the fatal shooting on the New Mexico set of Rust, a Western film in which he was starring, back in October. The shooting, which occurred while Baldwin held a gun during a rehearsal, killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
Filmed as he sat in the front seat of his car, Baldwin clarified that in contrast to speculation in the New York Post, he is following orders to turn over his device.
“Any suggestion that I am not complying with requests or orders or demands or search warrants about my phone, that’s bulls***, that’s a lie,” Baldwin explained.
The actor continued, explaining why the process seems to be taking a long time.
“This is a process, where one state makes the request of another state. Someone from another state can’t come to you and say, ‘gimme your phone!’ They can’t do that. They have to go through the state that you live in. That is a process that takes time, they have to specify what exactly they want,” he said. “They can’t just go through your phone and take your photos or your love letters to your wife or what have you. We are one-thousand percent going to comply with all that.”
After advising followers to “consider the source” of the rumors that he was not complying, and stating his frustration that the New York Post did not put the death of film legend Sidney Poitier on their front page like the New York Daily News, Baldwin spoke about his goals for finding out what really happened when his gun killed Hutchins.
“The best way, the only way, we can honor the death of Halyna Hutchins, is to find out the truth,” said Baldwin. “That’s what I’m working toward, insisting on, demanding. … That’s all that matters.”
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Last month, it was revealed in an eight-page document written by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office that investigators were approved to search Baldwin’s iPhone for text messages, emails, social media messages, browser history and other information related to the investigation. Any unrelated information taken from the phone will be sealed, according to the affidavit obtained by Yahoo Entertainment.
In a television interview following the shooting, Baldwin stated that he didn’t pull the trigger on the firearm, and that he believed it was not loaded with a live round when it was given to him.
Baldwin also explained that he would “go to any lengths to undo what happened,” but he doesn’t feel guilt, because he believes “someone is responsible for what happened.”
“I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me,” he shared, adding, “if I felt that I was responsible, I might have killed myself. And I don’t say that lightly.”
Despite Baldwin’s statements, the father of Hutchins has stated that he holds Baldwin “partly responsible,” even though he did not pull the gun’s trigger.
“I can’t understand the behavior of Alec,” Anatoly Androsovych told the tabloid the Sun. “It is clear to me Baldwin fired the shot from his hand so it’s hard for me to understand how he cannot be held partly responsible for my daughter’s death.”
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