Being on 30 Rock means never having to say you’re sorry. That’s the theme of Alec Baldwin’s life over the past several years, and this week was no exception. Confronted by a reporter from the New York Post over a lawsuit against his wife, Hilaria, Baldwin first grabbed the reporter by the arm, then said, “I want you to choke to death.” So far, so good – a normal conversation with Alec.
Then things took a turn for the worse.
Spotting a black staff photographer for the Post, Baldwin turned on the charm, calling him a “coon,” a “drug dealer,” and a “crackhead.” The big surprise in all of this is that Baldwin uses racial slurs that went out of style decades ago – he’s not just a racist, he’s a retro racist.
But the media silence has been somewhat deafening. Now imagine that Patricia Heaton, a well-known pro-life actress, had dropped the c-bomb. Her career would be over, shattered, done. But Baldwin can drop that bomb, then still talk plausibly about being elected governor in a state that elects prostitute-visiting scuzzbuckets and carpetbagging bullies to high office.
Welcome to liberal Hollywood, where you can slur black people so long as you vote Democratic.
Baldwin denies the charge, of course. He says, “The claim of racist remarks is one of the most outrageous things I’ve heard in my life.” It remains to be seen whether the Post has proof of the encounter – it appears that the reporter was carrying a recording device. In any case, the charge alone would destroy the career of a lesser known actor, or a right-wing one. But in Tinseltown, anything goes. After all, Baldwin voted for Obama. So he can’t be a racist, right?
The media’s hypocrisy on this story is stunning. When George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin, the press rushed to report that his 911 call had him calling Martin a “coon.” Jeffrey Toobin of CNN said that the tape could force authorities to charge Zimmerman with a hate crime; the slur was “extremely significant,” said Toobin. Only one problem: it wasn’t true. Zimmerman said that it was “cold” outside. Toobin backtracked: “[T]his certainly sounds like cold …. Again, everybody wants this case to be wrapped up tomorrow. This just shows why it’s important to say, let’s get all the best evidence we can.”
No such rushes to judgment here, even when a major newspaper reports the slur.
So, how common is racism such as Baldwin’s in Hollywood? The answer is unclear. Leonard Rowe, a famed black concert promoter, has said that Hollywood execs often use racial slurs. Rowe actually sued The William Morris Agency and Creative Artists Agency based on such slurs. There are those like Patrick Goldstein who argue that racism in Hollywood is endemic:
The problem actually starts at the top. You have to remember that dramas, not comedies, earn Oscar nominations. And if there were more black executives running the studios, the studios would be far more likely to not only make low-budget, low-brow African American comedies, but make an occasional black-themed drama. But because the studio executive ranks are lily-white, there’s no one on the inside lobbying for that kind of material. And there are also shockingly few African American filmmakers in the indie film community, which is the breeding ground for most of the indie dramas that end up as awards hopefuls.
This seems exaggerated. There are occasional cases of obvious racism – for example, the decision to remove a black couple from the movie poster for Couples Retreat in Great Britain – but most cases of racism are described without particularity. That doesn’t mean they’re not real. It just means that they’re tough to document.
What is not tough to document is the treatment of those like Alec Baldwin who allegedly drop racial slurs. Some, like Michael Richards of Seinfeld fame, ruin their careers on the shoals of racist rants. But would Richards in his heyday have been fired for using the n-word? That’s an open question. And even if you drop an n-word profusely, as Richards did, you can rehabilitate yourself if you’re willing to do the liberal apology tour (Richards hit Letterman, and called Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson). In any case, he was not a liberal icon like Baldwin.
Nobody should be allowed to use racial slurs and get away with it. Unfortunately, the perspective of the media seems to be that if your leftist bona fides are in order and you have a hit show, you can.
Freedom Center pamphlets now available on Kindle: Click here.
Michael Richards is the obvious exception to the Baldwin Rule. I guess he wasn't left wing enough?
The Michael Richards thing was very weird. I think he was in trouble on stage trying out his stand up routine, and so he thought he'd be funny by being shocking and using the N word.
The more things like this happen to left wing celebrities, the more our cause is helped.
Just sayin'…
Actors are parrets, they only repeat what someone has said, never having an original thought of their very own
Robots. They only know how to read, and follow someone else's script.
Try taking some acting classes and you'll see how easy it is. Fact: It isn't easy. The demands of spoken and body language upon actors are far greater than you'll ever realize. Today's actors, I might add, are far more intelligent and versatile than those of some "golden" past.
You admit yourself that proof should be available and it hasn't appeared. What a joke this story is.
Actually I think you failed to understand the whole point of the story. The point is that the media do attack some without proof and leave others alone.
He lost me forever when he was on some talk show years ago during the Lewinksky Affair, and he said, "we should all get up right now and go to Henry Hyde's house and stone him to death!" Of course he was cheered loudly.
I despise Alex Baldwin….not just his politics, but even more for his treatment of his then-11 year old daughter (remember the phone-message to her): "PIG! YOU'RE A PIG!"
But still, if he were a conservative making a racial slur, we'd all here at FPM rightly insist on the evidence. Let's not practice the same hypocrisy that so defines our liberal "friends".
Baldwin apologized publicly 100 times for that. He realized that he was saying to her was what he wished he could have said to his estranged wife, Kim Basinger. And I might add his ex was making it impossible for him to see his daughter. Conservative policy analyst Kay Hymowitz wrote a long piece on this case a while back. And it was very sympathetic toward Baldwin.
Sorry friend, there is no circumstance on earth that would compel me to talk to my own daughter the way he did….and Lord knows, I'm no saint. Furthermore, Baldwin's frequent angry outbursts against the paparazzi clearly indicates he has no control over his emotions.
"Let's go and killll Republicans!!!" – screamed Baldwin.
If a Republican said the same about DemocRATS, the furor would have been unimaginable.
Pushed through the schools on his looks, his brain developement has stopped at 7-yr old level.
Then, due to his using of mind altering substances, it did regress to 1-yr old level.
A poor imitation of a homo sapiens.
Żeby cię osrało, kretynie.
Juz! – as my dear Polish grandma would answer to your rightful final wish: Alec is ALREADY in feces up to his ears! Rostislav, Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Off script, Baldwin is a garbage scow in a hurricane without a rudder or a compass. On script he's still a garbage scow, but with a purpose. In either case, where's the EPA when we need them?
That is one of the reasons being a "good leftist" is so appealing—being a "member in good standing" of the Left is a GREAT "get-out-of-jail-free-card" it allows you so say/do things that would the ordinary person or conservitive person fired and villified.
The white liberal foundations sponsored multiculturalism, which is more subtly racist and perhaps more damaging. I documented that claim here: http://clarespark.com/2010/07/18/white-elite-enab…. It has a link to all the black power blogs and is scary in its own right. I would guess that most Hollywood liberals hold to the strategy I laid out here, which was institutionalized in the mid-1960s by white people with enormous cultural influence, and not in Hollywood either.
And you think the loony Left has conspiracy theories? How about the loony Right? "Hollywood liberals," who are but a small part of how films get made (for the record, the Left is currently frothing with rage over "Argo" and Zero Dark Thirty"), aren't the main problem.
My blog, which was not about conspiracy theories, but about liberal interventions in education policy, was obviously not consulted by “Questions”.
My God….practically everything that comes out of Hollywood – even ostensibly non-political movies – features one liberal trope or another!
Only if you define 'liberal' as, "things that I disagree with or make me uncomfortable."
One day, just one edition, it would be nice to see FPM not whine and snivel about how unfair the life of a poor conservative victim is.
Now why would you want to read a dumb thing like that?
Baldwin is a tool. Always has been….always will be.
How many times has Baldwin gone off in general, and attacked paparazzi? I'd love him to assault a paparazzi who happens to be an ex-Delta Force commando, who whoops his a$$.
I eschew the term "racist ".
…….only because it denies ACTORS THEIR Right to be STOOPID!
Actors often sound brilliant because they are spouting memorized words from the mind of another.
. ….You ain't no Alec Guinness, "Sir",……..
In fact, Without a script, – YOU!…….Not your daughter, are a "thoughtless little leftist pig."
.
I remember when the movie "Blazing Saddles" came out. I found it hilarious. They used the "n" word a lot, but in reality, they were making fun of dumb white ppl. Today with the politically correct world we live itn, this movie could never be produced. Sad, the nature of censorship.
Nonsense. And why should white people be the target of racial barbs? Show some pride in yourself.
Django Unchained???
Seems honesty is only attacked when it comes from the right.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone got it right when they mocked the crap out of him and the rest of the Holywood sheep, in "Team America". He is a clueless moron.
Awec…..Bawwwalllwwin. Hilarious.
Of course, they mocked "conservative" sheep as well. Sort of the premise of the movie.
Maaaatt Daaamon!!
They mocked everybody's intellectual dishonesty. It was so funny!!
Baldwin says and does what he wants then he goes on Charlie Rose and Letterman to do the messy cleanup. Disgusting privileged creepy old men. They deserve the public shame and embarrassment they create for themselves on behalf of the loathsome second rate Baldwin.
Since that whole daughter phone call I can't get past that Baldwin behaved so vile and repulsive to his own daughter. Cant even look at his disgusting smug face anymore.