Husband of fatally shot Rust cinematographer says idea of Alec Baldwin not being responsible 'is absurd'

Matt Hutchins, the husband of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was fatally shot on the set of the western film in October, expressed his anger over what he considers Alec Baldwin shifting blame off himself for the tragic incident.

"The idea that the person holding the gun causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me," Hutchins told Today show host Hoda Kotb in a new interview that aired on NBC Thursday morning.

"Every individual who touches a firearm has a responsibility for gun safety," Hutchins continued. However, he added, "gun safety was not the only problem on that set. There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced, and there's multiple responsible parties."

During a rehearsal on the set of Rust, Baldwin held what he thought was a harmless prop gun towards the camera in the direction of Halyna and director Joel Souza, but the gun discharged a live round that injured Souza and fatally wounded Halyna.

Baldwin spoke about the incident in December with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, saying he "didn't pull the trigger" when the gun went off — something that police determined could have been a possibility. Though Baldwin, who's also an executive producer on Rust, expressed remorse over Halyna's death, he said he isn't culpable.

"I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me," the actor said.

"Watching him, I just felt so angry," Hutchins told Kotb. "Just so angry to see him talk about her death so publicly in such a detailed way, and then to not accept any responsibility after having just described killing her."

"Almost sounds like he was the victim," he added, "and 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?"

Hutchins filed a wrongful death complaint in February against Baldwin and multiple other crew members on behalf of himself and his 9-year-old son, Andros. The complaint alleged that Baldwin "recklessly shot and killed Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust" and called out "others responsible for the safety on set."

Baldwin's attorney told EW in a statement, "Any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false."

"We're pursuing justice every way we can with the lawsuit, seeking to hold accountable the people who are responsible for Halyna's death, which was totally preventable," Hutchins told Kotb. "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."

Watch the interview segment in the video above.

Related content:

• Police experiment reveals Alec Baldwin could have fired gun in Rust shooting without actually pulling the trigger
• Halyna Hutchins' family sues Alec Baldwin and more crew over Rust shooting
• Alec Baldwin returns to work after fatal Rust shooting