Rust producers claim Gloria Allred DISAPPEARED during staffer's suit
Rust producers claim famed attorney Gloria Allred DISAPPEARED in script supervisor’s suit against Alec Baldwin for seven months and ignored 125 questions they sent her
- Mamie Mitchell, 64, was standing close to Halyna Hutchins when she was shot
- Lawyers claim since Allred came on to represent Mitchell, she has gone AWOL
- Mitchell, who was standing near Hutchins, says she now suffers from PTSD
Lawyers for Alec Baldwin’s embattled production company have accused famed attorney Gloria Allred of not properly presiding over her client’s lawsuit against the actor – alleging she was traumatized after witnessing Halyna Hutchins’ on-set death.
The declaration came in a new filing from attorneys representing Baldwin’s El Dorado Pictures and Rust Movie productions, and serves as the latest development in a lawsuit filed more a year ago by Rust’s script supervisor Mamie Mitchells.
Filed on Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, the motion orders for a judge to impose monetary sanctions against the storied women’s rights attorney.
That same day, Allred, who was enlisted by Mitchell in November 2021 to handle the suit, filed another lawsuit against the embattled actor, this time on behalf of the parents and sister of cinematographer Hutchins, who was killed in October 2021.
Baldwin’s lawyers now claim that since Allred came on to represent Mitchell, she has gone AWOL – not bothering to submit necessary discovery documents and perform other basic legal duties.
Lawyers for Alec Baldwin’s production company have accused famed attorney Gloria Allred of not properly presiding over her Screen Supervisor Mamie Mitchell’s lawsuit against the actor
Baldwin and Hutchins on the set of Rust last year. He maintains he never pulled the trigger, Mitchell alleges she was traumatized after seeing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death
Mitchell, who had been standing near Baldwin accidentally shot and killed Hutchins and wounded the film’s director Joel Souza, maintains that she has suffered from PTSD after the October 2021 incident, for which Baldwin is currently facing manslaughter charges.
The suit demands compensation for physical and emotional damages allegedly sustained by the staffer as a result of the incident, which transpired on October 21, 2021, in a replica church on the Western’s New Mexico set.
It names names 22 defendants associated with the film in total – including Baldwin, several producers, Baldwin’s El Dorado Pictures, armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, and First Assistant Director David Halls, who, unlike Reed and Baldwin, escaped trial by pleading guilty to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.
All three of the aforementioned film staffers handled the firearm that killed Hutchins directly before the tragedy. The firearm, inexplicably, was loaded when it was handed to Baldwin by AD Halls, after it had been inspected by the film’s rookie armorer.
Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed are facing a maximum of 18 months in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter. If convicted of a firearm enhancement on that charge, they’ll face an additional five years.
Mitchell, like Halls, Hutchins, and several other staffers on the yet-to-be-released film’s set, was present for the tragedy, and allegedly stood just a few feet from Hutchins, 42, when she was struck in the chest by the bullet fired by Baldwin.
Within weeks of the incident, Mitchell, 64, like several others, filed suit against Baldwin and his production company, enlisting Allred as representation.
Appearing alongside Allred in November 2021 to announce the suit, Mitchell said Baldwin ‘intentionally’ fired the gun during the on-set shooting
Appearing alongside 81-year-old Allred in November 2021 to announce the suit, Mitchell made some sensational claims regarding Baldwin, 64, including that he ‘intentionally’ fired the gun during the on-set shooting.
She proceeded to sue the multiple parties involved in the film’s production, claiming assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.
Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on October 21 on the set of the movie
Every charge against the production company, aside from negligence, has since been tossed.
In response, both Baldwin and El Dorado have maintained that Mitchell’s suit never explicitly stated how the actor, his company, or any of the other defendants owed a duty of care to her that made them negligent.
On Thursday, attorneys for El Dorado and Rust Movie Productions LLC added to these claims, saying Allred, over the past seven months, has failed to respond to concerns despite being granted several extensions – and therefore should have to pony up.
According to the filing, which has been viewed by DailyMail.com, Baldwin’s attorneys encountered their first roadblock when they served Allred and her team a set of 125 questions as part of the discovery process in July 2022.
After Allred missed the first 30-day deadline, the attorneys wrote they granted two 30-day extensions, and eventually received answers in October.
However, those responses, according to the lawyers, were nothing more than meaningless ‘boilerplate objections’ meant to slow the discovery process to a grinding halt, that ‘refused to provide any substantive information.’
The attorneys added that after airing their concerns over the contents of the responses to Mitchell’s team, Allred agreed to provide better answers in the next few weeks, ‘acknowledging the obvious deficients’ of her prior responses.
The suit demands compensation for physical and emotional damages allegedly sustained by the staffer as a result of the incident, which transpired on October 21, 2021, on this Santa Fe set
However, the filing alleges that those revisions never came, despite the promises of the high-profile attorney, whose clients have included the family of the slain Nicole Brown Simpson and Laci Peterson.
Emails included in the filing from Allred’s team, dated November 7, show that the attorney promised the responses would come by November 11.
After missing that deadline, another email from the plaintiff’s team, dated November 14, said the response would instead come on November 18.
That deadline, however, also came and went, according to the Thursday filing – with the production company’s attorneys claiming they have still yet to receive a response.
The motion filed Thursday demands the court issue and order that requires Mitchell and Allred to respond, as well as $2,130 in costs to cover the motion.
Allred, meanwhile, on Thursday appeared at a press conference to announce yet another suit against Baldwin – this one filed by the parents and sister of the slain Hutchins claiming wrongful death.
Allred and Mitchell have yet to issue a response to the filing.
The suit, filed by Allred and Mitchell a month after Hutchins’ death, charged Baldwin’s production company with assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. Every charge, aside from negligence, has since been tossed
Mitchell was standing close to Hutchins, when the bullet fired from Baldwin’s gun killed her and then injured the director Joel Souza.
The suit claims assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and deliberate infliction of harm. It also states that the scene being shot did not require a gun to be fired.
‘I ran out and called 911 and said ‘Bring everybody, send everybody,” Mitchell said during a press conference. ‘This woman is gone at the beginning of her career. She was an extraordinary, rare, very rare woman.’
Mitchell said she was standing less than four feet away from Hutchins when she was shot and was hit by residue from that bullet.
‘I will never forget what happened on the set of Rust that day,’ she said. ‘I relive the shooting and the sound of the explosion from the gun over and over again.’
Mitchell said she was left depressed and ‘frightened of the future’.
‘This violent tragedy has taken away the joy in my life,’ she added.
She said she wants to prevent what happened on the set from happening to anyone else.
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