A mere month after its debut, Alec Baldwin’s “Up Late with Alec Baldwin” show on MSNBC has already been temporarily suspended after the actor’s latest public tirades, notably one in particular.
From the Hollywood Reporter:
MSNBC has suspended Alec Baldwin’s new talk show for two weeks after the actor’s use of gay slurs drew widespread criticism.The announcement Friday followed the controversial actions of the 30 Rock star over the past several days. Up Late With Alec Baldwin had premiered only a month ago, on October 11.”I did not intend to hurt or offend anyone with my choice of words, but clearly I have — and for that I am deeply sorry,” Baldwin said in a statement. “Words are important. I understand that and will choose mine with great care going forward. What I said and did this week, as I was trying to protect my family, was offensive and unacceptable. Behavior like this undermines hard-fought rights that I vigorously support. I understand Up Late will be taken off the schedule for tonight and next week.”
It all started Thursday after Baldwin had a confrontation with a photographer who got close to him and his wife as they were leaving their NY apartment. The actor screamed a few choice words at the photographer, as the incident was captured on video. Baldwin initially claimed he said “c**ksucking fathead” and not “c**ksucking f*g,” but later conceded that it was offensive to the gay community either way after condemnation from LGBT advocacy organization GLAAD.
The drama continued.
From the LA Times [longer excerpt cited to give context to its last paragraph]:
Anderson Cooper wasn’t buying what Baldwin was selling, however.”Wow, Alec Baldwin shows his true colors yet again,” the newsman, who is gay, tweeted early Friday. “How is he going to lie and excuse his anti-gay slurs this time?”Cooper then told a Twitter commenter he wasn’t asking Baldwin to apologize for what he’d said but wondered why the actor would say something and then “repeatedly lie about it afterwards.””Just read Alec Baldwin’s latest excuses,” Cooper wrote. “They are actually so ridiculous they are funny.”Less amusing were Baldwin’s multiple run-ins with the media on Friday, which were documented by TMZ. He reportedly threatened and insulted one reporter, shoved a photographer and got up in the face of another reporter whom his wife Hilaria said almost hit her with a microphone the day before. Then he bumped into a parked car with his own ride as he tried to leave.
Among those Friday run-ins was NY FOX 5 reporter Linda Schmidt, whom Baldwin accused of assaulting his wife the previous day.
“The blonde? I do want to press charges against her. She assaulted my wife yesterday, almost hit her in the face <inaudible>…See that blonde woman? I want to press charges against her,” Baldwin could be heard on video saying to police as he pointed to Schmidt.
But later on Friday, Schmidt explained her side of the story, both on FOX 5 and on Megyn Kelly’s “The Kelly File” (video h/t NoMoreCocktails), which included video of the incident in question, and it appears quite different than Baldwin’s description of “assault.”
By late Friday, Baldwin had issued his public apology at MSNBC’s site and acknowledgement of his show’s two week suspension.
Baldwin of course has a long sordid history of tirades, some of which have included phrases like “uptight queen” and “toxic, little queen.”
The actor’s talk show has been lackluster since its debut last month; after a slow start, its ratings have continued to slump.
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