Mickey Rourke has spoken out in support of Alec Baldwin after the actor was charged with involuntary manslaughter over the death of Halyna Hutchins.
The 70-year-old actor said there’s ‘no way in hell’ Baldwin, 64, should be facing charges over the on-set shooting.
Yesterday, Baldwin was told he was being charged with involuntary manslaughter over the October 2021 shooting on the set of his movie Rust in New Mexico.
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Baldwin, who starred in and produced the Western, was given a prop gun which discharged.
Hutchins was hit by the bullet and killed, with Rust director Joel Souza also being injured in the incident.
Yesterday (Thursday January 19), Santa Fe district attorney said that Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed would be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
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They could potentially face up to 18-months in prison if found guilty and up to five years if convicted of firearm enhancement.
Following the news, Rourke shared a snap of Baldwin alongside a lengthy message in which he expressed his condolences to Hutchins family, but said that he didn’t believe Baldwin 'should be charged'.
He wrote: “I usually never put my 2 cents in about what happens on someone’s movie set. It’s a terrible tragedy what happened to cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
“But no way in hell actor Alec Baldwin should be charged with any negligence whatsoever.
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“Most actors don’t know anything about guns, especially if they didn’t grow up around them.
“Alec didn’t bring the gun to the set from his house or his car, when weapons are involved on a movie set, the guns are supposed to be handled only by the ‘weapon armor’.
“In some cases the 1st AD [assistant director] might pass a gun to an actor, but most of the time the gun is handed to the actor directly by the ‘gun armor’. There’s what armor’s job is on the set. To have an expert around any type of dangerous weapon. The actor then has an option of dry firing the gun him or himself to double check [sic]."
Rourke went on to reiterate that he believes there's 'no way in hell' Baldwin should be 'blamed' and said he's sure the actor is 'already suffering enough' over the incident.
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“No way in hell should Alec Baldwin be blamed for this unfortunate tragedy," he continued.
"Why the powers to be charging Baldwin with this responsibility is terribly wrong. I am sure Alec is already suffering enough over what happened. But to lay a blame on him is terribly terribly wrong.
“With my deepest condolences to Halyna Hutchins, to her family and her friends.”
Topics: US News, Alec Baldwin, Celebrity, Crime