Quentin Tarantino Feels Alec Baldwin Partly to Blame forFatalRust Shooting: Actors Are '10 Percent Responsible'

Mar. 15, 2025

Quentin Tarantino in Cannes, France, on May 27, 2023; Alec Baldwin in East Hampton, New York, on July 20, 2024.Photo:Daniele Venturelli/WireImage; Sonia Moskowitz/Getty

Daniele Venturelli/WireImage; Sonia Moskowitz/Getty

Quentin Tarantinois weighing in on theRustset shootingthat killed cinematographerHalyna Hutchins, following the dismissal ofAlec Baldwin’s involuntary-manslaughter trial.

In an interview withBill Maherfor the most recent episode of the latter’sClub Randompodcast, the 61-year-old director, who is no stranger to firearms on his film sets, was asked about the incident and subsequent trial dismissal.

“It’s a situation, I think I’m being fair enough to say, that the armorer — the guy who handles the gun — is 90% responsible for everything that happens when it comes to that gun, but …the actor’s 10% responsible,” Tarantino said. “It’s a gun. You are a partner in the responsibility, to some degree.”

Added thePulp Fictionfilmmaker during the interview, released Sunday, Aug, 25, “If there’s steps to go through, you go through them, and it’s done with due diligence. And you know it’s f—in' for real.”

An attorney for Baldwin, 66, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment, while a rep for the actor had no comment.

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On the third day of Baldwin’s trial in July, the actor’s lawyers claimed prosecutors had withheld evidence and asked the judge in the case, Mary Marlowe Sommer, to dismiss the charge. Sommeragreed to the defense’s request, and issued a stinging rebuke of the prosecutors in the case.

If convicted, Baldwin, who has maintained that hedid not pull the triggerof the gun or know why it contained live ammunition, would have faced 18 months in jail. Because Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice, theBeetlejuiceactor cannot be charged again in connection to the shooting.

ArmorerHannah Gutierrez-Reedwas convicted at trial in March and is currently serving an 18-month sentence, which she is appealing. In 2023, assistant director Dave Halls took a plea deal for negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Rustfilm set in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Oct. 23, 2021.Mostafa Bassim Adly/Anadolu Agency/Getty

Mostafa Bassim Adly/Anadolu Agency/Getty

“There are too many peoplewho have supported me to thankjust now,” the actor-producer wrote alongside an image of himself in court.

Baldwin added, “To all of you, you will never know how much I appreciate your kindness toward my family.”

On the horizon for Baldwin and his wifeHilariais a TLC reality series calledThe Baldwins, announced in June, about their sprawling family.

The couple share seven children:Ilaria Catalina Irena, 23 months,María Lucía Victoria, 3,Eduardo “Edu” Pao Lucas, 3½,Romeo Alejandro David, 6,Leonardo Ángel Charles, 7½,Rafael Thomas, 9, andCarmen Gabriela, 11. Baldwin also shares daughterIreland, 28, with ex-wifeKim Basinger.

source: people.com