Alec Baldwin is urging some caution when it comes to the sexual harassment scandal rocking Hollywood.
Alec Baldwin is urging some caution when it comes to the sexual harassment scandal rocking Hollywood.
The 59-year-old actor appeared on Megyn Kelly TODAY on Thursday, when he discussed his recent controversial tweet slamming John Oliver and Stephen Colbert. Baldwin's tweet was in response to Oliver recently grilling Dustin Hoffman on sexual harassment accusations against Hoffman at the Tribeca Film panel for the 20th anniversary of Wag the Dog.
"Talk shows were once promotional pit stops for some blithe chit chat about movies, etc. Now the likes of @iamjohnoliver and @StephenAtHome have flipped that and they are beginning to resemble grand juries," he wrote.
Baldwin explained his tweet to Kelly, and called out the problem of punishing people due to accusations without any proof.
“I do find that that whole issue -- which is a big can of worms to open up, really -- because you certainly want to see everyone who is guilty of something, who have done bad things, wrong things that hurt people, you want to see those people get punished," he said. "But I don’t want to see other people get pulled into that, who -- there’s a lot of accusations and no proof yet -- I don’t want to see people get hurt.”
Baldwin specifically addressed Oliver's questioning of Hoffman.
“And a lot of people by the way, they endorse that," he said. "They think that those hosts of those shows are perfectly, not only within their rights, but it’s very attractive or very necessary for them to be pressing this cause. I just don’t want to see people who are innocent get into trouble. Like Weinstein, for example, is in a rehab hiding behind millions of dollars’ worth of lawyers. And I want to see the people who really did something get convicted. I mean, I want the people who are the wrong, I want them to be punished, but I don’t want to see innocent people get hurt either.”
As for Hoffman, the actor points out that times have changed when it comes to what is considered acceptable, though makes it clear he isn't making excuses. Last month, Anna Graham Hunter alleged that Hoffman groped her and made inappropriate comments when she was a 17-year-old intern on the set of his 1985 TV movie, Death Of A Salesman. Hoffman responded with a statement, reading, "I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am."
“For me, what is different, what is odd -- this is no excuse -- but, like, 40 years ago there was a kind of way that people had, a kind of sexualized byplay, and a kind of fooling around that was wrong," Baldwin said. "You look back and you say it was wrong then. But it seemed to be less problematic than it is now. Where we live now, there are a lot of things you just don’t do anymore.”
“We need to have more understanding of how we treat people," he continued. "Like, someone said to me, 'If we are in a conversation and I talk over you, that is a mild form of bullying, if I don’t let you finish your sentence.' And men do that to women all of the time.”
When it comes to how his wife, 33-year-old Hilaria, has changed him as a person, Baldwin commented, "She doesn’t let me get away with anything. Nothing.”
The happy couple has three children together, with a fourth on the way, and Baldwin also has a daughter with ex-wife Kim Basinger -- 22-year-old Ireland. Baldwin admitted that having four children with Hilaria wasn't exactly planned.
“It’s amazing how my wife is going to have a baby right around," he marveled. "It would be a perfect ... it will be a birthday gift for my 60th birthday next spring.”
“I met my wife, I fell in love and I love kids, and my wife wanted to have kids, and I thought we’d have a kid," he continued. "Then we had two kids. Then we had three kids. Then I looked at my wife and I’m like, 'How many kids do you want to have?' But we realize every time we have a baby, we say the same thing. We look at each other and go, 'How could another one of these be wrong?'"
Last month, Hilaria showed off her growing baby bump on Instagram.
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