Eliza Hutton Breaks Silence 28 Years After Fiancé Brandon Lee's Death in the Wake of Rust Shooting
Eliza Hutton, Brandon Lee's fiancée, is urging "those in positions to make change to consider alternatives to real guns on sets"
By Dan Heching
October 25, 2021 11:04 PM
Eliza Hutton is coming forward for the first time since her fiancé Brandon Lee died following last week's tragic accidental shooting on the set of the Alec Baldwin film Rust.
Brandon died at 28 in a similar accident in March of 1993 on the set of his film The Crow. Hutton, 57, tells PEOPLE that the accident on the New Mexico set of Rust that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza is yet another "avoidable tragedy."
"Twenty eight years ago, I was shattered by the shock and grief of losing the love of my life, Brandon Lee, so senselessly. My heart aches again now for Halyna Hutchins' husband and son, and for all those left in the wake of this avoidable tragedy," Hutton tells PEOPLE.
"I urge those in positions to make change to consider alternatives to real guns on sets," she says.
Also this week, Hutton posted a photo of herself with Brandon taken in Venice, Italy, in October 1992 when they got engaged to her private Instagram account.
"There's no such thing as a prop gun," she wrote in the caption.
CREDIT: COURTESY ELIZA HUTTON
The pair had planned their wedding for April 17, 1993, after The Crow was scheduled to wrap production. Lee, son of martial arts star Bruce Lee, was killed on set on March 31st during the final week of production.
Brandon was killed when another actor shot him using a gun that was supposed to have only been loaded with blanks.
Brandon Lee, Eliza Hutton | CREDIT: COURTESY ELIZA HUTTON
On Friday, Brandon's sister Shannon Lee shared a statement in the wake of the Rust shooting.
"Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on Rust. No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period💔" she wrote on her brother's Twitter page, where she tweets on behalf of his legacy.
As investigations into what happened on the Rust set continue, a Change.org petition has been launched calling for the ban on all real firearms on film and television productions.
The petition was created by Bandar Albuliwi, a director who graduated from the American Film Institute Conservatory, where Hutchins was also an alumnus.
"Halyna was a talented cinematographer and a good friend whose life was taken tragically due to a real firearm being used on set," Albuliwi said. "We need to make sure this never happens again. There is no excuse for something like this to happen in the 21st century. Real guns are no longer needed on film production sets. Change needs to happen before additional talented lives are lost."
On Monday evening, the petition had been signed by almost 29,000 people out of the 35,000 requested signatures.
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