George Clooney Goes Off on Rust Crew and Execs Over ‘Infuriating’ Gun Safety Issues: ‘A Lot of Stupid Mistakes’

George Clooney addressed the tragic shooting accident on the set of Rust, which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured the film director Joel Souza. 

Clooney sat down with Marc Maron for Monday’s edition of the WTF podcast, during which he railed against the executives and crew of the film for failing to implement adequate gun safety measures.

The actor revealed that he has not spoken to Alec Baldwin, who discharged the prop gun, also noting that the police investigation revealed the first assistant director, David Halls, did not fully check the weapon and had previous complaints filed against him.

“Look, he may be a dick, I don’t know the guy at all, but I’ve been on sets for 40 years and the person that hands you the gun, the person that is responsible for the gun, is either the prop person or the armorer, period,” Clooney said.

He went on to share other accidents that have occured on sets throughout his time in Hollywood, recalling the moment Brandon Lee was killed due to a defective blank on while filming The Crow in 1993.

“Every single time I’m handed a gun on set — every time — they hand me a gun, I look at it, I open it. I show it to the person I’m pointing it to, I show it to the crew,” Clooney said of working with guns on set following Lee’s death. “Every single take you hand it back to the armorer when you’re done. You do it again.”

Clooney made sure to note that Baldwin could have done just that, pointing to the issue with dummy rounds, but added that a low budget production like Rust should never have had live live ammunition on set.

“Why for the life of me, this low budget film with producers that haven’t produced anything wouldn’t have hired, for the armorer, someone with experience,” he continued, adding, “That is insane. It’s insane. It’s infuriating.”

While Clooney did not name Baldwin explicity, the 30 Rock actor is a producer on the film. According to an affidavit, however, Baldwin was told that the gun was “cold,” meaning it did not contain live ammunition.

Clooney later claimed he has never heard the term “cold gun” on a set, adding, “They’re just talking about stuff I’ve never heard of. It’s just infuriating.”

He went on to hit at those “skimping” on gun safety protocols to save money, likely another shot at Baldwin and the other producers on the film.

“It’s a series of tragedies,” Clooney said, adding, “But also, a lot of stupid mistakes.”