Alec Baldwin denies allegations he’s not complying with Rust probe

The actor took to Instagram to say he is complying with investigators into the fatal Rust shooting – despite not having yet handed his phone to police.

Alec Baldwin insisted on Saturday he was complying with an investigation into the fatal shooting on the set of his movie Rust, though he has yet to turn over his mobile phone to New Mexico police.

The New York Post reports authorities have a warrant for the actor’s phone as they probe the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed by a live round from a prop gun held by Baldwin, 63, on set in October.

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Actor Alec Baldwin addressed the ongoing investigation into the fatal Rust shooting during an Instagram video on Saturday.

“Any suggestion that I am not complying with requests or orders or demands or search warrants about my phone, that’s bulls**t, that’s a lie,” the actor said as he sat behind the wheel of a parked vehicle in the Hamptons in a lengthy Instagram video on Saturday.

“This is a process where one state makes the request of another state,” he explained of the New Mexico warrant.

“It’s a process that takes time, they have to specify what they want. We are 1000 per cent going to comply with all that.”

On Friday, The Post spoke to legal experts who speculated that reasons someone may not comply with a warrant demanding their phone could include that it may contain “incriminating” evidence, or sensitive personal material.

Baldwin denounced The Post in his video, claiming its coverage of the actor’s failure to turn over his phone to investigators was “lies and bulls**t and nonsense”.

Authorities have a warrant for Baldwin’s phone as they probe the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust in October.

Baldwin spent nearly three minutes of the lengthy Instagram post emphatically pushing back on The Post report while insisting he was in complete compliance with authorities, who are weighing whether to bring charges against the actor or others involved in the film’s ill-fated production.

The actor then blasted The Post for featuring the story on the cover of Saturday’s paper.

“Sidney Poitier – one of the icons of the business, one of the kings of movie royalty dies – and on the cover of The Post they have other lies and bulls**t and nonsense,” he said.

“It’s all going to work out, regardless of what they say in these right-wing rag sheets, and people who are all about hate,” Baldwin said.

Legal experts however told The Post that in cases like this, appearances mattered.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on the set of Rust.

“It’s not consistent with his pledge early on to co-operate with law enforcement,” said Kevin Kearon, a former Nassau District Attorney’s officer who practises criminal defence law.

Baldwin calmly insisted to his social media followers that the legal observer was way off-base.

“The only way we can honour the death of Halyna Hutchins is to find out the truth; that’s what I’m working towards. Insisting on. Demanding.

“Any suggestion that I’m not complying is a lie.”

In addition to a potential criminal investigation, Baldwin is facing multiple lawsuits related to the cinematographer’s death.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission