Alec Baldwin returns to Twitter with political jab after 'Rust' shooting incident - Fox News

Alec Baldwin returned to somewhat normal Twitter behavior this week for the first time since an on-set shooting he was involved in left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead. 

Baldwin issued a statement the day after the incident noting that he is cooperating with authorities as they investigate and offered his condolences to Hutchins’ family. Since then, he was completely silent on social media as he and his wife Hilaria traveled to New England. 

On Saturday, Baldwin seemingly returned to business as usual on social media, first by complimenting the Halloween costume of actor and comedian Mario Cantone. He then retweeted a thread about the importance of teachers. 

Finally, he returned to commenting on politics Saturday night in response to political author Kurt Anderson, who asked his followers for examples of other "once-great American institutions misleadingly operating under their old names?" 

ALEC BALDWIN SHOOTING INCIDENT HIGHLIGHTS LACK OF UNIFORM SAFETY REGULATIONS ON SETS: LIVE UPDATES

"The federal government," Baldwin responded. 

He made the comments on the same day he spoke publicly for the first time about the shooting to reporters in New England. 

The 63-year-old began by noting he cannot comment on the investigation into the death of Hutchins. 

Alec Baldwin spoke with reporters about the deadly on-set shooting on the movie 'Rust.' (Fox News Digital)

"It's an active investigation in terms of a woman died, she was my friend," Baldwin said.

"We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together, and then this horrible event happened," he added.

Baldwin suggested the fatal shooting on the set is a "one in a trillion event."

HILARIA BALDWIN DRIVES HUSBAND ALEC AROUND IN POSH SKI TOWN AFTER DEADLY ‘RUST’ SHOOTING

"There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this," he added. "This is a one in a trillion episode. It's a one in a trillion event."

District attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies speaks at a news conference on Oct. 27.  (REUTERS/Adria Malcolm)

Previously, the actor took to Twitter one day after the shooting to share his initial thoughts with the public. 

"There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours," he wrote at the time.

Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set of ‘Rust.’ (Mat Hayward/Getty Images for AMC Networks)

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"I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna," the actor concluded.

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Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza previously noted that criminal charges are on the table for Baldwin when it comes to the investigation into Hutchins' death. However, he also stated in subsequent interviews that investigators are looking into how live ammunition made it to the set and into the gun and who is responsible for that. 

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Alec Baldwin returns to Twitter with political jab after 'Rust' shooting incident - Fox News
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Kal Penn Comes Out, Announcing Engagement to Partner of Eleven Years - Variety

Kal Penn, the actor best known for his lead role in the “Harold & Kumar” comedy series, has come out, revealing that he is engaged to his partner of eleven years.

Penn gave his story during an interview on this week’s CBS Sunday Morning while promoting his new tell-all memoir “You Can’t Be Serious,” touching on his introduction to acting, his time working with the Obama administration and his relationship with his partner, Josh.

“Josh and I’ve been together for 11 years,” Penn said, discussing how he presented his sexuality in his memoir. “We had our 11th anniversary in October. So, writing about it… it’s very matter-of-fact in our lives, and when you’re the son of Indian immigrants who says that you want to be an actor, the chaos that that creates in your family and your community, will trump anything else, always.”

After moving to Los Angeles to work as an actor, Penn broke out with the 2004 comedy “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle” alongside his co-star John Cho. The film spawned two sequels and led Penn to other projects, including the 2006 drama “Namesake” and the Fox series “House.”

Penn also took a hiatus from acting to campaign for President Barack Obama. He went on to work within the administration in the office of public engagement, working to connect Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Penn met his fiancé during his time working in Washington, D.C.

“I discovered my own sexuality relatively late in life compared to many other people,” Penn later told told People magazine. “There’s no timeline on this stuff. People figure their shit out at different times in their lives, so I’m glad I did when I did.”

“I’ve always been very public [about my relationship] with everybody I’ve personally interacted with,” Penn continued. “I’m really excited to share our relationship with readers. But Josh, my partner, my parents, and my brother, four people who I’m closest to in the family, are fairly quiet. They don’t love attention and shy away from the limelight.”

Simon & Schuster will release “You Can’t Be Serious” on Nov. 2.

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Kal Penn Comes Out, Announcing Engagement to Partner of Eleven Years - Variety
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Jay-Z Inducted Into Rock Hall Of Fame By Obama, Dave Chappelle: 'He Is Hip-Hop, Forever’ - HuffPost

In just his first year of eligibility, “Brooklyn’s finest,” Jay-Z, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland on Saturday night among a class that included The Go-Go’s, Carole King, Tina Turner, Todd Rundgren, and Foo Fighters.

But only a hip-hop legend of his caliber, who’s been a driving force in the music industry for over two decades, was honored with a speech by a former president. Barack Obama, who previously paid tribute to Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter when he became the first rapper in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, delivered moving remarks about how Jay-Z’s music has served as a soundtrack to some of his most pivotal moments.

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“I’ve turned to Jay-Z’s words at different points in my life, whether I was brushing dirt off my shoulder on the campaign trail, or sampling his lyrics on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of the Selma march to Montgomery,” Obama said in a taped video message. “Today, Jay-Z is one of the most renowned artists in history and an embodiment of the American dream, a dream he has helped make real for other young people like him.”

His comments arrived after a star-studded video introduction for the hip-hop mogul, which featured his wife Beyoncé and their daughter Blue Ivy Carter reciting some of Jay-Z’s most famous lyrics alongside LeBron James, Rihanna, Chris Rock, Sean Combs, Samuel L. Jackson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Queen Latifah and many more.

Jay-Z speaks onstage during the 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

Dimitrios Kambouris via Getty Images

But only one major Jay-Z fan chose to honor the rapper in person: The controversial comedian Dave Chappelle, who permanently resides in Ohio, appeared at the ceremony as the final induction speaker.

After a “massive ovation from the crowd,” per Rolling Stone, Chappelle began his remarks by saying, “I would like to apologize to … Nah, I’m just fucking with you,” presumably referencing the backlash to the transphobic material in his recent Netflix special, “The Closer.” Since its release, Chappelle has defiantly stood by his jokes despite the pushback on Netflix’s support of the special, which resulted in employees staging a walkout in protest of how the company has handled the response.

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Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was actually on site for the ceremony, posing with Chappelle backstage after his remarks.

But the comedian kept his attention turned to the “incredible honor” of inducting a man who’s inspired him and the Black community, telling the crowd, “I need everybody around the world to know: Even though you are honoring him, he is ours. He is hip-hop, forever and ever and a day.”

Chronicling Jay-Z’s life from a boy raised in Brooklyn housing projects to the man who became one of the best-selling musicians of all time, Chappelle emphatically said, “What’s most important for everyone in this room to know is what it means to us, what he means to his culture.”

“We love him more than you could ever recognize or even realize because he embodies the potential of what our lives can be and what success can be,” he added.

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Eventually, Jay-Z himself took the stage, joking that all of the evening’s praise was “trying to make me cry in front of all these white people.”

“Growing up, we didn’t think we could be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame,” he said at the start of his speech. “We were told that hip-hop was a fad. Much like punk rock, it gave us this anti-culture, this sub-genre, and there were heroes in it.”

He went on to pay respect to some his own musical influences, including Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One, Chuck D and fellow inductee LL Cool J. He also shouted out his former manager Damon Dash, with whom he and Kareem “Biggs” Burke created the company Roc-A-Fella Records, which spawned his groundbreaking 1996 debut album “Reasonable Doubt” and many others.

Jay-Z concluded his speech by recalling how Obama asked him to campaign during his 2008 presidential run. “That showed me the power of hip-hop, the power of these heroes who let me know that these things are possible,” he said. “Hopefully I’m informing the next generation that anything is possible.”

The 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will air as an HBO special starting Nov. 20.

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Alec Baldwin interview: Actor breaks silence on 'Rust' shooting when paparazzi swarm him, wife Hilaria outside his Vermont home - WABC-TV

MANCHESTER, Vt. -- Alec Baldwin spoke out for the first time on camera since last week's deadly shooting on the set of the film "Rust," calling it a "one-in-a-trillion episode."

The actor discharged the antique revolver during a dress rehearsal for the Western, killing the film's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, and wounding its director, Joel Souza.

In a nearly four-minute exchange with a reporter from BackGrid Saturday outside his Vermont home, with his wife by his side, Baldwin said he is fully cooperating with police and talks to them "every day." He said he has been ordered by authorities not to answer any questions about the investigation into the shooting, which occurred on Oct. 21 at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

"I'm not allowed to make any comments because it's an ongoing investigation," Baldwin said in the video. "I've been ordered by the sheriff's department in Santa Fe. I can't answer any questions about the investigation. I can't."

HOW IT HAPPENED: Inside New Mexico movie set where Alec Baldwin fired live round from prop gun

Baldwin said "we're eagerly awaiting" the results of the sheriff's department's investigation.

The star, who was also a co-producer on the film, spoke about Hutchins, 42, who was struck in the chest and died after being airlifted to a hospital.
"She was my friend. She was my friend," Baldwin said. "The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting I took her to dinner with Joel the director."

"We were a very, very, you know, well-oiled crew shooting a film together, and then this horrible event happened," he added.

Baldwin said he's in "constant contact" with Hutchins' husband, Matthew Hutchins, and discussed meeting with him and their 9-year-old son after the deadly shooting.

MORE: 'Rust' armorer said loading blanks was 'scariest thing' during podcast interview prior to shooting

"I wouldn't know how to characterize it," Baldwin said. "The guy is overwhelmed with grief."

"There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this," he added. "This is a one-in-a-trillion episode, it's a one-in-a-trillion event. And so he is in shock."

At one point in the interview, the reporter forgot Hutchins' name, prompting Baldwin's wife, Hilaria Baldwin, to say, "Her name is Halyna. If you're spending this much time waiting for us, you should know her name. Her name is Halyna."

Baldwin released a statement a day after the incident, saying in a Twitter post, "There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours."

"My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna," he said.

1-
There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and

— AlecBaldwin(HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) October 22, 2021

2- I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.

— AlecBaldwin(HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) October 22, 2021

Production of "Rust" was paused after the shooting. When asked if he thought production would start up again, Baldwin said, "No, I doubt it."

The actor said he does not know if he would ever work on another film set involving firearms again, but that efforts to limit the use of firearms on sets "is something I'm extremely interested in."

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said this week that investigators suspect a real bullet was loaded in the firearm that Baldwin discharged. An assistant director handed the gun to Baldwin while proclaiming "cold gun," to let the crew know a gun with no live rounds was being used, according to a search warrant affidavit. The assistant director told investigators he did not know there were any rounds in the gun he gave to Baldwin, according to the warrant.

TIMELINE: List of fatal movie set accidents, including Brandon Lee shooting, 'Twilight Zone' helicopter crash

Three guns -- the Colt revolver, an apparently non-functioning .45-caliber revolver and a plastic non-functioning prop gun -- were seized from the scene, along with 500 rounds of ammunition that included a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and live rounds, according to Mendoza.

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said no decision has been made on whether charges will be filed and that "no one has been ruled out at this point." Any decision to bring charges could take weeks or months, she said.

ABC News' Matt Fuhrman and Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2021 ABC News Internet Ventures.

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Live From the Rock Hall Induction, It’s Chappelle’s Show - Vulture

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Amid ongoing controversy involving his new Netflix comedy special The Closer, Dave Chappelle appeared as a special guest at this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, where he inducted his longtime friend Jay-Z with the help of a pre-recorded video from Barack Obama. The comedian
didn’t use his speech as an echo chamber to further address the special’s backlash, which has been generating a constant stream of headlines since its release earlier this month. Well, okay, maybe a little. “I would like to apologize,” Chappelle began. “I’m just fucking with you.” Now back to Hova.

“This is an incredible honor to induct this next man into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But I need everybody in rock and roll know that even though we are honoring him, he is ours. He is hip-hop,” he said. “Forever and ever and a day. I could sit up here tonight, I could talk about his acumen as businessman. I could talk about his accomplishments in music. But I think what’s most important for everyone in this room to know is what it means to us, what he means to his culture. Being Black in America is not as easy as it looks. It’s always … ‘don’t do this, or else. Don’t say this, or else.’” Chappelle recounted Jay-Z’s origin story in the Brooklyn housing projects, and how his “ascension through American life” began while dealing drugs and writing.

“In the music industry they call him ‘one-take Hov.’ He said it about himself, but you don’t know why he said it,” Chappelle continued. “Because when he was hustling, because he used to sell crack. Oh, don’t get it twisted. American pie is not made out of apples. It’s made out of whatever you get your fucking hands on. He used to sell crack. He didn’t have anything to write his rhymes on and he would sit there and he would just write down whatever. He would memorize all these thoughts that came to his mind, an avalanche of ideas. And he would just be catching rainwater.” To celebrate how Jay-Z embodies Black excellence, Chappelle allowed himself one joke:

With success comes co-option. And he never let that get him. The way a white person might hear his music is not the same the way someone from [the] Marcy [projects] would. Well, he’s said, “This is Jay every day.” He told us he’d never change. Probably says the white person, “Well, maybe this guy should focus on his development.” But what we heard is that he’ll never forget us. He will always remember us. That we are his point of reference, that he is going to show us how far we can go if we just get hold of the opportunity. For this, we will always love him, we always treasure him. 

Interestingly, the Rock Hall has embraced the tradition of comedians giving induction speeches in recent years: David Letterman, a stealth Jay-Z fan, inducted Pearl Jam and their “entire balcony” of drummers in 2017, while Howard Stern did the raunchy honors for Bon Jovi in 2018. Netflix seems to be embodying that “This Is Fine” dog meme in the meantime.

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‘Dune’ Leads Domestic Box Office Again as ‘Antlers,’ ‘Last Night in Soho’ Struggle to Scare Up Crowds - Variety

The domestic box office was lighter on the treats and heavier on the tricks during Halloween weekend, capping an otherwise busy October at the movies on a muted note.

Horror movies “Antlers” and “Last Night in Soho” opened nationwide and struggled to scare up strong ticket sales, leaving last weekend’s champion “Dune” to rule over box office charts again. It’s the first time since COVID-19 that people could safely celebrate the spooky holiday, so it’s understandable that audiences opted to trick-or-treat or go to costumed parties rather than visit their local multiplex.

“Dune,” the big-screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s influential sci-fi novel, generated $15.5 million in its second weekend of release, bringing its domestic total to $69.4 million. The film, which opened simultaneously on HBO Max, declined 62% from its debut, a considerably better hold than other Warner Bros. spectacles, such as “Mortal Kombat,” “The Suicide Squad” and “Space Jam: A New Legacy.” Those movies all but collapsed in their second weekends, respectively plunging roughly 70% while playing day-and-date on streaming. For “Dune,” most of the marketing has hinged the idea that fans need to watch the movie in the best possible quality, which is to say it demands to be seen in theaters. Patrons have been responding to that sentiment, as evidenced by robust Imax ticket sales. The premium format has delivered $4.2 million in revenues between Friday and Sunday and $17 million of “Dune’s” overall domestic tally.

Globally, “Dune” is nearing the $300 million mark, with international box office receipts at $222 million. Warner Bros. and Legendary, the companies behind “Dune,” have already announced that director Denis Villeneuve — and stars Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac and Zendaya — will return to Arrakis for a sequel.

The Focus Features film “Last Night in Soho” and Searchlight’s “Antlers” will battle for sixth place, with each film collecting a tepid $4.2 million over the weekend. Those figures could vary slightly when final numbers are tabulated on Monday. Either way, it’s an unenviable spot for new nationwide releases. “Last Night in Soho” had a slightly larger theater count, playing in 3,016 venues compared to “Antlers” in 2,800 locations.

Directed by Edgar Wright (“Baby Driver,” “Shaun of the Dead”), the mostly well-reviewed “Last Night in Soho” follows an aspiring fashion designer who finds herself transported back in time to 1960s London in the body of a night club singer. Starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, the movie secured a “B+” CinemaScore from ticket buyers. “Antlers” received worse grades. Produced by “The Shape of Water” filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and featuring Keri Russell as a small-town school teacher attempting to uncover a dangerous secret about one of her students, “Antlers” missed the mark with moviegoers and landed “C+” CinemaScore, which doesn’t bode well for its theatrical prospects.

David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, says the “soft” opening weekends for “Last Night in Soho” and “Antlers” aren’t entirely perplexing.

“Psychological horror movies generally do less business than the blood-gore-shock variety,” he said. “Late October is the scary season, but with the holiday falling on the weekend, Halloween activities [and] social events are conflicting with moviegoing.”

Still, in a surprising twist, “Last Night in Soho” and “Antlers” opened behind “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission,” the third entry in the popular anime series. From Funimation Films, the PG-13 movie has amassed $6.4 million from 1,602 screens over the weekend, enough for fourth place. “World Heroes’ Mission” is the sequel to 2020’s “My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising,” which launched to $5.8 million right before the pandemic hit and ended its theatrical run with $13.3 million. That film’s box office potential was cut short because two weeks after “Heroes Rising” opened, movie theaters across the country were forced to shutter to help stop the spread of COVID-19. The latest installment has been well-received, with an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes from audiences.

Despite the newcomers to movie theater marquees, cinephiles craving a fright opted to watch Jamie Lee Curtis return as the avenging Laurie Strode in “Halloween Kills.” The Universal Pictures film finished the weekend in second place, with $8.5 million from 3,616 theaters. After three weekends on the big screen, “Halloween Kills” has grossed $85.6 million in the U.S. and Canada. It’s a solid result considering the slasher sequel premiered concurrently on Peacock, the streaming service owned by NBCUniversal.

In third place, MGM’s James Bond movie “No Time to Die” drummed up $7.8 million from 3,507 venues. So far, the 007 adventure — featuring Daniel Craig’s fifth and final outing as the suave secret agent — has made $133 million in North America. Internationally, “No Time to Die” has generated $472 million, pushing its global ticket sales to $600 million, a robust figure for pandemic times.

At the No. 5 spot, Sony’s comic book adventure “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” brought in $5.7 million from 3,278 theaters in its fifth outing. With $190 million in domestic ticket sales to date, the “Venom” follow-up is the second-highest grossing movie of the year behind Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ($221 million).

Elsewhere at the domestic box office, Wes Anderson’s twee dramedy “The French Dispatch” expanded to 788 venues, where the star-studded film posted $2.8 million over the weekend. Domestically, it has earned $4.6 million after 10 days of release.

See this weekend’s estimated box office tally below:

1. “Dune” — $15.5 million
2. “Halloween Kills” — $8.5 million
3. “No Time to Die” — $7.8 million
4. “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission” — $6.4 million
5. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” — $5.7 million
6. “Last Night in Soho” — $4.2 million
7. “Antlers” — $4.2 million

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‘Dune’ Leads Domestic Box Office Again as ‘Antlers,’ ‘Last Night in Soho’ Struggle to Scare Up Crowds - Variety
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Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson hold hands on Halloween ride - Page Six

Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson held hands on a Halloween thrill ride, but the reality star and Staten Island funnyman are “just friends,” a source claimed in a new report.

The duo were photographed on a rollercoaster at Knott’s Scary Farm in Buena Park, Ca. on Friday, People Magazine reported.

Kim’s sister Kourtney Kardashian and her fiancé Travis Barker were also spotted screaming on the coaster, the outlet said.

Davidson, 27, knows the famous family through mutual friend Machine Gun Kelly, who is pals with Blink-182 drummer Barker, an insider told the magazine.

“They hang in the same circles so they will be together from time to time,” the source reportedly said. “It’s just friends hanging out.”

Could romance be in the air for Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian-West?

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Kardashian, 41, is in the midst of divorcing Kanye West, who accompanied her to Manhattan when she hosted “Saturday Night Live” earlier this month. Last week, she said she still admires her estranged spouse.

“Kanye will always be the most inspirational person to me,” the KKW Beauty CEO told the WSJ. Magazine in an interview published Monday.

SNL cast member Davidson had the week off from the show, which did not air a live episode Saturday.

The unlikely duo recently held hands and shared a kiss in a SNL skit, in which they played Jasmine and Aladdin. The punchline of the sketch was that Davidson’s character would not be equipped to satisfy Kardashian sexually, given her penchant for men of color.

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