Alec Baldwin's Scatological Scare Tactics
Oct. 27 2008, Published 7:07 a.m. ET
SHITSTORM Baldwin Alec Baldwin may be difficult when he's working on a film, but it's nothing compared to how he acts when he wants out of one. After the producers of Running With Arnold, a new documentary about Arnold Schwarzenegger, let it be known that they had no intention of granting Baldwin's request to remove his narration from the film, the Running With Scissors star threatened to "shit all over this film in the press." That comment was made during a telephone conversation between Baldwin and Mike Gabrawy, one of the movie's producers; Gregg Michael Abrams, its executive producer and a lawyer, was listening in on the call and taking notes.
As Radar previously reported, Baldwin objects to footage in the film implying a connection between Schwarzenegger and Nazism. According to Abrams's notes, obtained by Radar, Gabrawy had offered to screen an early cut of the film for Baldwin before he recorded his narration, but "Baldwin stated that he was a busy and important celebrity and did not have time to watch the film before the recording session." Abrams also notes that Baldwin offered to return the $20,000 fee he was paid and to reimburse the producers for expenses they'd incurred on his behalf, including airfare and hotel bills.
Abrams appeared on The O'Reilly Factor to discuss the dispute last night. On the show, he also claimed that Baldwin's attorney had used the actor's reservations as a pretext to renegotiate his compensation, asking for 12.5 percent of the revenue from sales of the DVD. "I think there's a financial element, and I really don't understand his thinking behind pulling out of the project simply because he is not a big fan of Governor Schwarzenegger," Abrams said.
