Alec Baldwin broke down in tears during interview in which he failed to ... trends now
Alec Baldwin broke down in tears in his first interview months after fatally shooting Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
In the now infamous interview with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, the embattled actor denied that he pulled the trigger of a live gun on October 21, 2021, going as far as to say he 'would have killed himself' if he thought he was responsible.
Baldwin, 64, has instead shifted the blame on prop managers, claiming they did not check if the gun was loaded before handing it to him.
The Saturday Night Live alum also claimed cops at the scene told him he would not be charged in the shooting, and shared how he 'loved' Hutchins and had bonded with her widower after accidentally killing her.
But New Mexico authorities are now expected to announce criminal charges against the actor for the shooting, which killed the 42-year-old mother.
Alec Baldwin teared up in a now infamous interview with George Stephanopoulos last year
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed in a shooting on the set of Rust in October 2021
New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Andrew Reeb announced on Wednesday they will release their decision about whether or not to charge Baldwin and four others in the fatal shooting.
The announcement will be made at 9am Mountain Standard Time on Thursday.
Baldwin has repeatedly claimed that he did not pull the trigger on Hutchins, saying that the gun just 'went off' while in his hands on the set of his western.
'I let go of the hammer, bang. The gun goes off. Everyone is horrified. They're shocked. It's loud,' he said in the interview in December 2021.
He also revealed that he didn't know Hutchins had died until hours later, at the end of his police interview when he was photographed in the sheriff's parking lot in Santa Fe.
But, he said at the time, he had been told by people 'in the know' that it is 'highly unlikely' he'll face criminal charges.
'Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who it is, but it's not me.
'Honest to God, if I thought I was responsible I might have killed myself. And I don't say that lightly.'
Baldwin claimed he did not know Halyna died until the end of a police interview, when he was photographed on the phone speaking to his wife, Hilaria
Hutchins' October 19, 2021 Instagram post showed cast members and staffers, including Baldwin alongside Hutchins herself and armorer Gutierrez-Reed (circled left to right) on the set of Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin has said he was filming a scene inside the church when he pulled back the hammer and the gun went off, shooting Hutchins
Speaking of the fatal shooting, the 30 Rock star said he was filming a scene inside a church on the set, when the gun was handed to him.
'She's getting me to position the gun - everything is at her direction,' he said of Hutchins.
'I draw the gun, to her marker. I'm not shooting to the camera lens, I'm shooting just off. In her direction. This was a completely incidental shot, that may not have ended up in the film.'
He said he cocked the gun, and was discussing with Hutchins how it looked on camera.
'I'm just showing. I go, 'How 'bout that? Does that work? You see that? Do you see that?' And then she goes, "Yeah, that's good."
'I let go of the hammer, bang. The gun goes off. Everyone is horrified. They're shocked. It's loud. They don't have their earplugs in.'
He went on to say that 'the gun was supposed to be empty,' claiming he was 'told I was handed an empty gun.'
But Hutchins soon fell to the ground, at which point Baldwin said he thought she must have fainted.
'The notion that there was a
