Four years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of Rust, the film’s gun supplier, Seth Kenney, is suing Alec Baldwin and the movie’s producers, seeking compensation and punitive damages.
Kenney and his company, PDQ Arm & Prop, LLC — which provides prop guns and blanks to film productions — filed the complaint on Oct. 22 in New Mexico, citing false light, conversion, unjust enrichment, and tortious interference.
Representing himself, Kenney claimed that Baldwin, 67, and other producers mishandled the company’s rental equipment, failed to pay for it, ignored safety standards, and “conspired” to launch a “scapegoat smear campaign” against him and his business.
He wrote in the complaint that his “firearm rental property was in good working order” and was rented to the Rust production “under the provisions of strict safety guidelines and practices; and with the understanding that [producers] would observe and comply with local, state, and federal law.”
Kenney alleged that the team “violated the rental agreement by allowing the loading, illegal concealment, and discharge of a live round of ammunition.”
The filing also claims the incident caused “egregious financial damage and emotional trauma,” resulting in “ruinous financial losses, injury to reputation within the film community and public at large, severe emotional distress, and significant loss of past, present and future financial income.”
“It’s been devastating,” Kenney told Variety. “It’s not a matter of saving face. There’s nothing left to lose. This whole thing has been s--- and I have been the scapegoat.”
Hutchins, 42, was killed in October 2021 when a gun Baldwin was holding discharged during rehearsals, injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin’s involuntary manslaughter case was dismissed in July 2024, while armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted in March 2024 and served 14 months in prison.
Kenney, a key witness in both trials, says he has been unable to find work since the tragedy. “I’ve gotta say my piece,” he said. “I do have that opportunity to say, ‘Here’s what really went on with a lot of things.’”
Rust was completed and released in May.
