Matt Hutchins, the husband of the Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot on the movie set, opens up exclusively to TODAY’s Hoda Kotb in a moving interview.
Hutchins recalled his loving marriage with Halyna, while he described how he shared the heartbreaking news with their 9-year-old son about her death and voices anger and outrage at actor/producer Alec Baldwin for not taking more responsibility for her death.
Halyna Hutchins died October 21, 2021 during a rehearsal on the set after she was shot with a real gun mysteriously loaded with a live bullet and wielded by Baldwin, the star of the Western and also one of its producers. The criminal investigation of cinematographer Hutchins’ death is pending and it is unknown if charges will eventually be filed by the Santa Fe County sheriff and district attorney. She was 42 at the time.
Thursday morning NBC/ Universal’s The TODAY show shared a few minutes of an in-depth interview with Matt Hutchins which will air during prime time. During the approximately 10 minute teaser, Kotb asked Matt about his relationship with Halyna, how they met, and their whirlwind engagement. Matt shared that it was “pretty much” love at first sight and that it was “pretty magical” meeting her.
He traveled all the way to Ukraine, Halyna’s home country, to propose after only knowing each other for 3 months. The ring he gave her after that journey, he now wears on his own finger as a constant reminder of his love. They were happily married for 16 years and raised a son together until her tragic death.
Kotb asked Matt about Halyna’s nightly phone calls to their son while she was on the set of Rust. He shared how happy those video calls made their son and how it eased their son’s anxieties and gave him the comfort he needed to go to sleep while his mom was away. Matt then described the horrifying moment he was told about the tragic accident which took Halyna’s life and how he shared the heartbreaking news with their son. “A member of the production team told me that Halyna had been shot,” he explained.
“My heart sank, right away,“ he continued, “completely inexplicable to me, that could have happened at that moment.” He then went on to explain that he needed to tell his son so he wouldn’t assume they were going to the set in order for him to see his mom. Matt expressed that he needed to be blunt and to the point when telling their son about his mother’s passing. “I told him, sitting together, that his mom had been shot. Of course he didn’t believe it right away, he didn’t want to believe it.”
Kotb then asked him what his son, Andros, said in response and Matt explained, “I think that, with that kind of news, you just have to say, multiple times, so that it can be believed, and so then he believed it and we cried together.” He then told Kotb that the two of them cry together in mourning for Halyna at any major holiday, birthday, and their wedding anniversary.
Hoda then switched gears and moved on to discuss Alec Baldwin. She asked about the first phone call from Baldwin and the photos of them embracing. He explained that at that moment, everyone involved was still very much in shock over the events. Matt did express some outrage over Alec Baldwin’s 2021 interview where he seemed to shift the blame away from himself.
As we reported, a weapons expert explained to Reel 360 that the only way for that particular firearm to discharge is if someone “cocked” the weapon by pulling back the hammer, prior to pulling the trigger. Baldwin swore up and down that he did not pull the trigger, but then told the entire world that he pulled back the hammer and released it, which discharged the weapon, firing an actual bullet, which struck and killed Hutchins, and then claimed he carried no guilt over the incident.
Matt said, “watching him…I just felt so… angry,” he went on, “Just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly, in such a detailed way, and then not accept any responsibility, after having just described killing her.” Kotb responded saying that Baldwin felt grief, but no guilt, and Matt responded, “Almost sounds like he was the victim.” He went on to share his anger, “hearing him blame Halyna in the interview and shift responsibility to others and seeing him cry about it, I just feel like, are we really supposed to feel bad about you, Mr. Baldwin?”
Kotb then flat out asked him if Baldwin holds the majority of the blame and Hutchins replied, “The idea that the person holding the gun, causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me. Every individual who touches a firearm has responsibility for gun safety,” He then went on to point out, “but gun safety was not the only problem on that set. There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced and there are multiple responsible parties.”
Matt Hutchins has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Alec Baldwin and others in connection with the fatal shooting on the New Mexico set of the film Rust. The lawsuit alleges that at least 15 safety practices were disregarded on set and claims there was a wider culture of cost-cutting which ultimately led to Halyna’s death.
Matt Hutchins told Hoda Kotb, “We’re pursuing justice every way we can, with the lawsuit, seeking to hold accountable people who are responsible for Halyna’s death, which was totally preventable. In the end, justice won’t bring Halyna back, but maybe the memory of her can help keep people safe and prevent something like this from ever happening again.”
The full interview, in its entirety will be streaming On Thursday at 10:30pm Eastern on TODAY All Day
