`Rust' Technician Drops 2 Executive Producers From Negligence Suit

HOLLYWOOD, CA — The "Rust" film's chief lighting technician has dropped two executive producers as defendants in his negligence lawsuit against multiple parties, including Alec Baldwin, in which he says he felt the whiz of the bullet that struck and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.

In court papers filed Thursday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maurice A. Leiter, attorneys for plaintiff Serge Svetnoy asked that all his claims against Chris M.B. Sharp and Jennifer Lamb be dismissed. The court papers do not state whether Svetnoy reached a settlement with the pair or if he is not pursuing the claims against them for other reasons. Svetnoy's request is "without prejudice," meaning he wants to leave the door open to bringing Sharp and Lamb back into the case.

Svetnoy's suit also names multiple other defendants, including armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, stemming from the fatal Oct. 21, 2021, on-set shooting of Hutchins with a bullet fired by the actor/producer from a prop weapon. Svetnoy maintains the shooting "was caused by the negligent acts and omissions" of the multiple defendants and that he felt the bullet whiz by him.

The suit filed in November 2021 also states that gunpowder and other residual materials struck the right side of Svetnoy's face.

Svetnoy was among the first "Rust" crew members to publicly speak out about the shooting of the 42-year-old Hutchins while Baldwin was helping to prepare camera angles on the film's set near Santa Fe. The weapon, which was supposed to contain only blank rounds, discharged a lead bullet that struck Hutchins in the chest and lodged in the shoulder of director Joel Souza, now 50.

Svetnoy wrote on social media days later that he witnessed the shooting and comforted the bleeding Hutchins until paramedics arrived. He immediately deemed the shooting an act of negligence, saying Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director David Halls both failed to check the weapon before declaring it safe and passing it to Baldwin.

Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty in New Mexico to charges of involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering in Hutchins' death.

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