Alec Baldwin Responds To 'Laughable' Backlash From His Homophobic Rant
Jun. 28 2013, Published 6:37 p.m. ET
Alec Baldwin may have a bit of a temper, but he is not a homophobe -- at least, according to himself.
In a new interview with Gothamist.com, the actor attempts to defend his recent expletive-filled rant against Daily Mail journalist George Stark. "If what I said offended everybody that obviously wasn't my intention," he said.
Alec's expletive-laden rant was in response to an article Stark posted on the Daily Mail Thursday accusing Alec's wife, Hilaria, of tweeting during James Gandolfini's funeral that day. The Daily Mail has since removed the post from their website, and Alec has since deleted his Twitter.
"Number one, I'm never going to apologize for defending my wife, ever," Alec told Gothamist.
"Number two, the idea of me calling this guy a "queen" and that being something people thought is homophobic… a queen to me has a different meaning," he tries to explain. "It's somebody who's just above. It doesn't have any necessarily sexual connotations. … I know women that act queeny. I know men that are straight that act queeny and I know gay men that act queeny. If homosexuality was an issue for me, I would have moved out of New York years ago. I find that laughable."
Indeed, a source close to Alec confirms to RadarOnline.com, "He also calls women 'queens.'"
Anderson Cooper called out Alec's use of that word in particular on Twitter Friday, writing "Why does #AlecBaldwin get a pass when he uses gay slurs? If a conservative talked of beating up a 'queen' they would be vilified."
But speaking of Twitter, Alec says don't expect to see him there any time soon.
He says, "The third and only other thing I have to say about this is it was a great lesson to me because I learned a lot when I was at Jimmy's funeral. Jimmy's funeral was like a really profound event. One thing about Jimmy Gandolfini was that he wasn't on Twitter. Twitter began for me to bypass the mainstream media and talk directly to my audience … It certainly isn't worth the trouble."
Indeed, since posting his rant Alec has been the subject of many online critiques, including one from conservative blogger Andrew Sullivan, who, like Anderson Cooper, thinks Alec should be called out and maybe even prosecuted for encouraging violence against a "queen." To that, Alec says, "He's not very smart."
In the end, he says, he's taking the whole thing as a lesson and signing off Twitter for good. Hilaria has deleted her account as well.
Alec says, "I was sitting there at Jimmy Gandolfini’s funeral and these people were talking about what a great person he was, what a great friend he was, father he was, what a great colleague he was. Everyone just admires him as an actor. He didn’t think to himself, 'Man I gotta have a Twitter, I gotta be Twittering.' I thought, 'you know something? I’m gonna take a lesson from Jimmy Gandolfini.' This media thing is a complete waste of time."
Alec wrote the following to GLAAD, it's been revealed:
He wrote, "My ill-advised attack on George Stark of the Daily Mail had absolutely nothing to do with issues of anyone's sexual orientation. My anger was directed at Mr. Stark for blatantly lying and disseminating libelous information about my wife and her conduct at our friend's funeral service. As someone who fights against homophobia, I apologize.
I have worked, periodically, with numerous marriage equality organizations, especially over the past couple of years, to achieve the very rights that gay couples are earning by recent court decisions. I would not advocate violence against someone for being gay and I hope that my friends at GLAAD and the gay community understand that my attack on Mr. Stark in no way was the result of homophobia. Many Thanks, Alec Baldwin."
GLAAD Vice President of Communications Rich Ferraro replied: "Alec Baldwin is making it clear that the intent behind his tweets does not excuse his language, especially at a time when there were 11 incidents of violence against gay men in New York City just last month. As we all work to end such senseless acts of violence, allies like Baldwin are right to use these moments to reinforce support for the community and LGBT equality."
Alec made such threats once before, temporarily quitting Twitter after American Airlines called his rant against the company "offensive and rude." He returned to tweeting shortly after.