Alec Baldwin’s MSNBC show “Up Late With Alec Baldwin” has been suspended for eight days (including 11/15) after he fired off a homophobic slur at a paparazzi. This, after two similar incidences in the recent past.
“Up Late,” which airs Friday nights, will be pulled from the network’s schedule tonight and for next week, Baldwin said in a statement on MSNBC’s website 11/15:
“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. 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. I want to apologize to my loyal fans and to my colleagues at MSNBC – both for my actions and for distracting from their good work. Again, please accept my apology.”
This most recent incident flared up 11/14 when video published by TMZ appeared to capture him calling a paparazzo a “c—sucking fag.”
Baldwin said on his Twitter account not long after he had actually said “fathead.” He later tweeted: “Rich Ferraro from @glaad informs me that c’sucker is an anti-gay epithet. In which case I apologize and will retire it from my vocabulary.”
The Wrap reported Ferraro’s statement: “Alec Baldwin still needs to take real action. MSNBC has sent a message that anti-gay slurs carry consequences, and that’s an important standard to uphold at a time when LGBT people continue to face disproportionate levels of bullying and violence just because of who they are.”
