(Headline USA) Alec Baldwin filed a motion in court this week asking for a lawsuit filed against him by the family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer whom he fatally shot on the set of Rust, to be tossed.
Baldwin claimed the lawsuit against him was “especially misguided” because Hutchins’s family had been distant from her in the years leading up to her October 2021 death.
“The loss of a daughter and sister is undoubtedly painful in any circumstance. Yet Plaintiffs — who had been distanced from Halyna physically, financially, and emotionally for years before her death — have no viable cause of action against Defendants,” the motion reads.
Baldwin’s legal team also cited a settlement the actor reached with Hutchins’s husband, Matthew, in October of 2022.
“She left behind a husband and a son in California, who promptly filed claims in New Mexico for wrongful death and loss of consortium. Matthew Hutchins and Alec Baldwin, both operating under the specific desire to honor her legacy and do what is best for Halyna’s son, reached a settlement in October 2022,” the court filing states. “That should have been the end of the matter, but it is not.”
Three of Halyna Hutchins’s relatives — Olga Solovey, Anatolii Androsovych, and Svetlana Zemko, each of whom are Ukrainian citizens who live in Ukraine — filed a lawsuit against Baldwin and other members of the Rust crew in February, claiming Hutchins’s death had caused them undue emotional distress and a loss of consortium.
Baldwin’s legal team argued the claim to consortium could only be made by Hutchins’s husband, Matthew.
“None of the Plaintiffs can plead or prove such a relationship to Halyna Hutchins. And even if New Mexico law were to apply, Plaintiffs’ cause of action would still fail, as Plaintiffs’ complaint provides nothing more than a single conclusory statement, that, no matter how often it is repeated, cannot support a sufficiently close relationship under the law, as required by New Mexico law to state a claims for loss of consortium,” the complaint reads.
Baldwin is currently facing criminal charges for his role in Hutchins’s death, though is legal team has moved to dismiss those charges as well.
