Alec Baldwin Hit with New Lawsuit from Seth Kenney Over ‘Rust’ Incident

Nearly four years following the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust, actor Alec Baldwin is once again facing legal challenges, this time from the movie’s gun provider, Seth Kenney.

Kenney, the owner of PDQ Arm & Prop, has initiated legal action against Baldwin and several other parties, including Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins. Kenney, who is representing himself, claims the defendants engaged in defamation and a joint smear campaign aimed at making him the scapegoat for the 2021 disaster.

Court documents obtained by TMZ indicate Kenney’s professional standing was irreparably harmed by what he terms “cutthroat Hollywood fixers and media manipulation.”

He asserts that Baldwin and the others “conspired to paint [him] in a nationwide false-light smear campaign” to divert culpability from themselves and the film’s production team.

This new suit comes after Baldwin previously sued Kenney and other crew members in 2022, alleging they failed to maintain set safety and permitted live ammunition to be brought onto the set and loaded into the weapon.

While that lawsuit has since concluded with a settlement, Kenney is now retaliating, maintaining that Baldwin and his co-defendants improperly used his company’s equipment to cut costs.

The incident took place in October 2021 during a camera rehearsal for the Western. Baldwin discharged a revolver that he believed was “cold” (unloaded and safe), resulting in the death of Halyna Hutchins and injuries to director Joel Souza. Baldwin has consistently denied pulling the trigger and insisted he had no awareness of live rounds being present.

In related criminal proceedings, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and received an 18-month sentence, though she was paroled in May 2025.

Baldwin himself faced similar criminal charges, but they were dismissed with prejudice in 2024 after a court determined that prosecutors had withheld critical evidence that could have supported his defense.

With Kenney’s recent filing, the Rust tragedy, which has become symbolic of safety lapses in the film industry, continues to loom large over Baldwin and others associated with the unfortunate production.