The former '30 Rock' actor clarifies his controversial comments about a culture of complicity in Hollywood following Weinstein's fall from grace.
- Nov 5, 2017
AceShowbiz - Alec Baldwin landed in hot water due to his controversial remarks in regards to Harvey Weinstein scandal. The actor/comedian was accused of victim blaming. He quickly denied it and announced that he would take a break from Twitter.
"It is w some degree of sadness that I will suspend posting on this a TWITTER account for a period of and in the current climate," Baldwin wrote on the social media. "It was never my intention, in my public statements, to 'blame the victim' in the many sexual assault cases that have emerged recently."
He explained, "I simply posited that the settlement of such cases certainly delayed justice, though I am fully aware that those settlements were entered into w the understanding that settlement is wise, intimidated into believing so." He added, "My heart goes out to all such victims. My goal is to do better in all things related to gender equality. Au revoir."
In a PBS interview, Baldwin said, "You heard the rumor that he raped Rose McGowan. You heard that over and over. We have heard that for decades." He continued, "But what happened was that Rose McGowan took a payment of $100,000 and settled her case with him. And it was for Rose McGowan to prosecute that case."
"When women take money and are silenced by that money - even though they took the money and were silenced because they were told, beyond the money, it was the right thing for them to do, keep quiet, don't make too many waves, it is going to hurt your career - When they do it, does it set back the cause of change? That's an issue, I think," he went on.
Asia Argento, one of Weinstein's victims, responded, "Hey @AlecBaldwin you're either a complete moron or providing cover for your pals and saving your own rep. Maybe all three." Baldwin replied, "If you paint every man w the same brush, you’re gonna run out of paint or men." Argento fired back, "I am not painting you #AlecBaldwin, or any man. You did your own self portrait & is despicable."
Patricia Arquette, whose sister Rosanna was also assaulted by Weinstein, called out Baldwin as well, "8 women went to lawyers who basically told them they didn't have a hope in hell in court against a multi millionaire. That's why they settled." Judd Apatow commented, "And how many people knew that and still chose to work with him? Why did they do that? It is an important question to explore."
Meanwhile, Rose McGowan chose to respond to Baldwin's remarks that he had long heard rumor about her rape by Weinstein. "Told you everyone knew. No one cared. Men ran the show. Women toed the line. No more," she tweeted.
During the sit-down with PBS, Alec Baldwin also said, "A men, all men, during the course of their lives...treats women differently than they treat men unconsciously. You don't mean to. You're not sitting there going, 'well, this woman is less than me, her ideas are less valid, this person is less valuable to the process we're doing.' We just innately treat women differently, because men have typically been in charge. I have certainly done that in my life. And that's something I think needs to change."
In a separate interview with The Wall Street Journal, Baldwin believed that the reason why Weinstein was gutted with such ferocity was because he was an "unlikeable" character. "There was a pool of gas on the ground. It's interesting to me how the match that was struck was struck on Harvey. If Harvey wasn't so unlikable, would it have had the velocity that it has and the intensity? I think what enabled this was Harvey was somebody that many people, not myself, but many people were just itching to bring down," he said.
Baldwin recently starred in a movie called "The Private Life of a Modern Woman" directed by James Toback who was also accused of sexual harassment. Baldwin and Toback also made a documentary that followed their journey to try to sell a film concept at 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
