Hollywood is protecting Alec Baldwin now that his movie is being released.
Baldwin shot and killed his cinematographer on the “Rust” movie set in 2021. He denied pulling the trigger of the gun. But both an FBI forensics investigation and an independent firearms expert reported the trigger was pulled. Now, the entertainment media are making Baldwin out to be an innocent bystander while he may be criminally charged again.
The movie’s PR team released some still photos from the set on Tuesday. This resulted in a round of promotional stories that showed media outlets inaccurately reporting how Baldwin shot Halyna Hutchins.
Deadline: “Hutchins was killed by a bullet from a prop gun held by Baldwin that discharged”
The bullet killed her on its own?
The Daily Mail: “…the gun in Baldwin’s hand went off during rehearsals” and “Baldwin was holding the gun when it went off, but he has publicly denied pulling the trigger”
No gun in history just “went off” on its own. The proper journalistic way to report this story is that special prosecutors alleged Baldwin pulled the trigger based on the FBI forensics.
The Santa Fe special prosecutors are looking at the facts with a view to possible charges.
Yahoo: “…a gun held by the “30 Rock” actor went off”
Baldwin wasn’t just holding it. He pulled the gun from the holster and yanked back the hammer of the revolver. He admitted to the sheriff and reporters that he broke gun safety rules — which he knew — by not checking if the gun was loaded and pointing the gun at Hutchins.
Entertainment Tonight: “…the prop gun Baldwin was holding suddenly discharged”
It suddenly discharged when he pulled the trigger.
Screen Rant: “…a prop gun handled by actor Alec Baldwin accidentally fired a live round”
It was a real gun, not a prop. It didn’t accidentally fire. He pulled the trigger and it functioned normally.
Entertainment Weekly: “Hutchins died in an accidental shooting after Baldwin’s prop gun discharged…The actor has maintained that he did not discharge the prop gun.”
That’s factually inaccurate. Baldwin admitted he shot — or discharged— the gun.
The news media has been mostly accurate over the past two years about the allegations against Baldwin. But the entertainment media have treated the incident a little differently.
