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'NOT ACCIDENTAL'
Alec Baldwin’s gun may have been loaded with a bullet ‘as revenge,’ says TV location manager
ALEC Baldwin's fatal shooting on the set of Rust was reported to be a tragic accident, but an industry insider has speculated that a crew member may have purposely put the bullet in the gun to gain "revenge" on the crisis-hit movie due to stress.
Veteran TV location manager John Dilbeck, the fiancé of Julia Roberts’ late sister Nancy Motes, is speaking out in exasperation at the state of Hollywood after the pandemic.
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Dilbeck claims that the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by ’s fatal gunshot is just the tip of the iceberg of what goes on behind the scenes in .
Last week, Baldwin, 64, pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter after a Colt. 45 he was holding during rehearsals discharged, killing Hutchins on set in Santa Fe, , in October 2021.
Dilbeck, 40, who worked extensively on and its spin-off shows, is open to the possibility that this may not have been an accident, such is the toxic atmosphere among crew and actors.
He partly blames the expensive protocol, which has seen budgets slashed to pieces, while A-list talent still demand the same millions they earned pre-pandemic.
"I don't honestly believe that Alec Baldwin wanted to kill anyone, but I do believe somebody may have deliberately put that round in the chamber to set him up because they were tired of his abuse.
"These actors are not who you think they are and Alec Baldwin has always been egotistical, it’s renowned in the industry," Dilbeck told The U.S. Sun.
"By their own orchestration of cutting money and costs, they created the parameter of danger and they are absolutely responsible.
"And when I say they, [I mean] Alec Baldwin is responsible. He is an executive producer. He has done this long enough to know better. He's tried to blame virtually everyone else.
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"Hollywood is out of control, we need to stop the toxicity in this industry, which is near enough killing people.
"If we as an industry, and also the justice system, don’t make an example out of Alec Baldwin, what or who will stop the next Alec Baldwin from breaking the rules?
"He kept pushing and pushing the crew. We know there were many crew strikes leading up to that incident. They had multiple strikes, even on the day of the shooting.
"If I was a location manager on Rust, I would have stopped and shut their permit down. I could have saved someone's life potentially like I was trying to with Nancy."
has reached out to Baldwin's legal team for comment.
MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES
Motes tragically died at the age of 37 from a drug overdose in February 2014.
Dilbeck always pinned the blame for Motes’ mental health struggles on the Pretty Woman star for bullying an "overweight" and depressed Motes, which drove her to suicide.
In a handwritten 13-page suicide note, Motes, who’d had a $30,000 gastric band, said that Roberts’ abuse had been so bad that "I burst into tears because I wake up."
The late dog trainer added: "My mother [Betty] and so-called 'siblings' get nothing except the memory that they are the ones that drove me into the deepest depression I’ve ever been in.”
Roberts' reps did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The U.S. Sun.
COVID GRIPS HOLLYWOOD
Dilbeck has seen first-hand how Tinseltown and its superstars can destroy those who work behind the camera.
He says the movie industry has only worsened since the pandemic, with budgets hit with expensive covid protocol, which means cutting staff and working crew to the edge of their physical and mental health on even tighter deadlines.
Some of the protocols still remain today, while reported last year that the industry faces "an age of austerity," with TV budgets down 30 percent, movies are being canned, and a director who made $4million pre-pandemic is now getting $750,000.
Dilbeck has already seen a top TV location manager die unexpectedly from stress and says that we hear about the Baldwin incident because it’s Alec Baldwin, but there are many others behind the scenes who are suffering.
"The pandemic put unspeakable stress on productions and budgets. The Covid compliance teams started to get top billing on credits over other departments.
"When, in reality, they didn’t help us make that movie. I'm not so sure that they even really kept us safe.
"All of us had to get the vaccine to be able to work, many wanted to resist because of their vax fears, so it caused a lot of animosity.
"I would say that the pressure of the protocols was a big financial drain on the industry. People aren't getting paid what they once were, but the talent still wants the same money," says Dilbeck.
"Make-up, for example, the vanities, you couldn't share make-up brushes, or their hands couldn't touch another actor.
"So they would have to buy five times the amount of make-up because they couldn't spread it out over multiple actors.
"All of these were just huge financial drains and to compensate, they'd cut the staff and make others do more hours and more roles.
"They'll hire somebody like a unit production manager and expect them to do that role, as well as the production coordinator and line producer."
Dilbeck continued: "It's just pushing and pushing on tighter and tighter restrictions until there’s this Alec Baldwin moment.
"I feel like those moments have been happening in other productions, but that one just went over the edge and the one you hear about.
"The people above the rules are the old guard, that toxic old era, they are taking so much money out of other departments to keep their entitled, narcissistic selves in power, everyone's going over budget and they're having to cut every corner, imaginable - apart from the A-listers huge fee.
"When you cut safety protocols, that's where things go wrong. People fatigue, people get hurt, even robbery now on set is at an all-time high.
"They don't want to pay security guards more than the minimum wage, so no one wants to do it and, unfortunately, right now, our fleets of trucks and trailers are getting robbed for their catalytic converters.
"Companies are going out of business from the thefts. But the actors always get what they want.
"We don't hear about the truck driver who fell asleep at the steering wheel because they were stuck working a 24-hour shift and they were overworked and underpaid.
"We never hear about those accidents in the industry. They were like Nancy, Nancy wasn't an actress on the show, if it wasn't for the fact that she was Julia's sister, we may have never heard about her at all.
"Protocols are broken, then someone eventually gets hurt, in worst case scenarios, killed. I think we're going to see more of these mishaps.
"We're already seeing more of the toxic nature of the beast, as we are losing young talent to substance or alcohol abuse, stress or depression, we're already seeing them dying. It's the post-pandemic aftermath.
"The demands they're holding on exhausted crews to keep pushing when there's nothing left to give. And if we didn't love this industry, we wouldn't keep taking this abuse."
'TOXIC ATMOSPHERE'
Dilbeck explains how one of his friends, who was a location manager at a top TV show, died recently from "stress on the latest season."
"My friend was the location manager on a top TV show and passed away at a young age recently. He was dealing with a lot of stress on the latest season, he wasn't getting much sleep, and they were going over time, over their shooting dates.
"Anything that involves this very famous producer is going to be stressful or straining because he is one of those toxic entities. They don't care who they hurt as long as they get what they want.
"People are getting spread thin, they're cutting a lot of corners in order to make a production happen, and it puts a ridiculous strain on the crew."
Yet there is a flicker of hope in Dilbeck’s eyes as he says a new era of younger independent filmmakers are willing to turn their backs on A-listers.
He says: "I feel like some of them are smart enough not to play up to the toxic movie stars. If the industry holds onto the toxic movie star era, who are abusive and dangerous, they're going to have more Alec Baldwin moments because people are getting hurt.
"In some cases, the industry has got a little better, I try to be optimistic, in the sense that some people are losing their power, or some of the toxic entities are dying off like has finally been removed. And you don't see his circle of actors as much, the ones he enabled.
"The influence of them is still around, but slowly, the movie star is dying, which I think is a positive thing.
"It gives a chance for the new actors. It's not like the movie star can keep playing the kid in high school, they’re now in their 60s.
"Yet it's always hard for them to release their grip on the industry, as younger, more talented, up-and-comers are rising to the occasion. Slowly, it seems our generation is inheriting this industry.
"But I would say the toxic nature of the beast hasn't gone away. I hope the future is about more independent stuff on lower budgets."
Yet, Dilbeck will never leave , he’s been working in the game for over 15 years and it’s helped him deal with the grief of Motes’ death, which he still struggles to come to terms with today.
He says: "I'm never going to give up on the industry, I was doing my job long before I met Nancy, but this has been the best and worst thing in my life.
"I'm passionate about it, but my personal life has been destroyed by the death of Nancy.
"I've never recuperated, I've never found love again, I've never gotten married again. Work has been my coping mechanism, I’ve never really stopped,’ he explains.
"Both Nancy and my life were ruined by toxic, wealthy celebrities, one in particular. My story has never changed. The world is a lesser place without Nancy.
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"In many ways, Nancy was right, it was the only way to escape, to not be abused by someone as wretched as Julia. How would she have gotten away from it had she lived?"
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If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or text Crisis Text Line at 741741.
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