Alec Baldwin is facing a lawsuit from the Ukrainian family of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was killed on the set of his film Rust.
Hutchins, 42, was fatally shot and director Joel Souza injured when a prop gun Baldwin was using on set in the New Mexico desert in October 2021 fired a live round.
The parents and sister of Ukrainian-born Hutchins, who still live in the country, said they wanted to seek accountability from the person “who is truly responsible” for the tragedy.
Her mother Olga Solovey, father Anatolii Androsovych and sister Svetlana Zemko are currently residing near Kyiv, amid the conflict with Russia.
Ms Solovey is working as an emergency operating room nurse, tending to those hurt in battle, while Ms Zemko is caring for her two young children.
The family is being represented by the high-profile US lawyer Gloria Allred, who said they intend to travel to the US in the coming months.
Ms Allred announced they were filing a civil lawsuit against the Hollywood actor and the movie’s production company yesterday.
They are seeking unspecified compensation for alleged battery, emotional distress, negligence and loss of consortium, she said.
Loss of consortium is a claim which seeks to recover compensation for damage to certain relationships that are mutually dependent.
“It’s clear to us that the relationships of all of our clients have been damaged, and that they will not be able to enjoy life in the same way as they did when their precious Halyna was alive,” Ms Allred said. “Halyna was the light in their lives, of course, and for all of our three clients that tragic loss of their daughter and sister is heartbreaking.”
Hutchins’ sister Svetlana described her death as “one of the biggest losses of my life” in a video shared at a press conference called by Ms Allred yesterday.
“Even more devastating (is) to see the utter suffering of our parents, and how their health has sharply declined,” she said through a translator.
“It is for this reason that I would like for somebody to carry that responsibility, and not just someone, but that very someone who is truly responsible for this.
“I believe to let this go, and to leave this unpunished, is unallowable.”
In October, Baldwin settled a separate wrongful-death lawsuit brought by Hutchins’ husband Matt Hutchins.
She claimed that Baldwin, 64, had not offered his condolences to Hutchins’ Ukrainian family, or contacted them since the incident.
The Hollywood actor is set to appear in US court for the first time on February 24 to face separate criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter alongside Rust’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed.
