Matthew Hutchinsis speaking out for the first time about the Octoberdeath of his wife, Halyna Hutchins.
Halyna, a cinematographer,died at age 42after actorAlec Baldwinaccidentally misfired a prop gun on the set of the Western filmRust. On Thursday’sTodayshow, Matthew spoke with Hoda Kotb in his first on-camera appearance since his wife’s death.
Reminiscing about their love story, Matthew shared it was “pretty magical” to meet Halyna and that he wanted to marry her right away. He then spoke about his late’s wife bond with their 9-year-old son Andros, sharing that Halyna would call every night from theRustfilm set.
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“They would get on a video and she would just do everything that you could as a mom to reassure him,” he said. “Just give him kisses … I think it helped him to get to sleep every night knowing that she was thinking about him.”
Detailing how he learned of Halyna’s death, and the painful way he relayed the news to Andros, Matthew told Kotb: “A member of the production team told me that Halyna had been shot.”
“My heart sank right away. [It was] completely inexplicable to me that it could have happened at that moment,” he explained.
Matthew told Kotb, 57, that he decided to be “very direct and blunt” with Andros. “Well, you know, I think that that kind of news you just have to say multiple times, so that it can be believed. And so he believed it, and we cried together then,” Matthew said. “And every holiday [since], Christmas, New Year’s, our anniversary, my birthday, Valentine’s Day — I mean every holiday is difficult without her.”
Chris Haston/NBC
Matthew later opened up about Halyna’s touching tombstone inscription, which reads: “Her light shapes our lives, keep chasing your vision.” He shared with Kotb that the quote reflects Halyna’s unforgettable legacy.
“So her life shapes our lives, keep chasing your vision,” he noted. “You know, thinking about how her life just permeates our lives and to be inspired and ambitious. And that really embodied her spirit.”
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“Watching him, I just felt so angry,” Matthew said in the interview when asked about Baldwin’s sit-down ABC interview withGeorge Stephanopoulos, in which the actor said he did not feel guilty about the incident. “I was 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.”
“There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced, and there’s multiple responsible parties,” Matthew added of theRustset.
“The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me,” Matthew said.
SplashNews.com; MEGA/GC Images/Getty
During December’s ABC News interview, Baldwin said, “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but it’s not me.”
Matthew’s talk with Kotb aired just over a week after hefiled a lawsuit on behalf ofhimself and Andros, claiming Baldwin “recklessly shot and killed Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movieRust.”
A rep for Baldwin did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment about the complaint.
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Alec Baldwin; Halyna Hutchins.Rachel Luna/WireImage; Mat Hayward/Getty/AMC Networks
In October, Baldwin accidentally shot Halyna and directorJoel Souzaduring a camera test at the Bonanza Creek Ranch set in New Mexico. Halyna died from her injuries after being airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital. Souza, 48, survived his injuries.
Besides starring in the planned film, Baldwin was also listed as a producer of the ill-fated movie.
“Halyna deserved to live,“the complaint reads, “and the Defendants had the power to prevent her death if they only held sacrosanct their duty to protect the safety of every individual on a set where firearms were present instead of cutting corners on safety procedures where human lives were at stake, rushing to stay on schedule and ignoring numerous complaints of safety violations.”
“This lawsuit seeks justice for the losses of her survivors and to hold responsible those who caused her tragic death,” the complaint also reads, in part.
Matthew told theDaily Mailof the meeting, “I have spoken with Alec Baldwin and heis being very supportive.”
“I don’t think there are words to communicate the situation,” Matthew told Insider after his wife’s death.
“I am not going to be able to comment about the facts or the process ofwhat we’re going through right now, but I appreciate that everyone has been very sympathetic,” he added. “I think that we will need a little bit of time before we can really encapsulate her life in a way that is easy to communicate.”
RELATED VIDEO: Rust Actor Devon Werkheiser Says Halyna Hutchins Death in Tragic Shooting ‘Doesn’t Make Sense’
Baldwin also spoke about the meeting in December during his sit-down interview with ABC News.
“Her husband comes to town, her husband Matthew. And I met with him and their son. He was as kind as you could be,” said Baldwin, asGeorge Stephanopoulosasked, “What could you possibly say to him?”
“I didn’t know what to say. He hugged me and he goes, ‘I suppose you and Iare going to go through thistogether.’ And I thought, ‘Well, not as much as you are,’ " said Baldwin, who is a father of seven. “I think to myself, this little boy doesn’t have a mother anymore. And there’s nothing we can do to bring her back.”
“I said, ‘I don’t know what to say; I don’t know how to convey to you how sorry I am and how I’m willing to do anything I can to cooperate,’ " he said.
The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office has not yet charged anyone in the incident.
source: people.com
