Alec Baldwin Apologizes for His Homophobic Twitter Rant, But Also Makes Excuses
Last week, a British tabloid reporter claimed that Alec Baldwin's wife Hilaria was Tweeting about things like wedding presents and upcoming TV appearances during James Gandolfini's funeral.
Both Alec and Hilaria denied it, and Alec said he was going to Tweet at the reporter's funeral. But it didn't end there.
The reporter in question, George Stark, is apparently gay and Baldwin went right for that in a quick burst of nasty Tweets. He said:
"[I'd] put my foot up your [effing] ass, George Stark, but I'm sure you'd dig it too much."
"I'm gonna find you George Stark, you toxic little queen, and I'm gonna [eff] you up."
"I want all of my followers and beyond to straighten out this [effing] little [B-word], George Stark."
Interestingly enough, very few people called Baldwin out for this. After all, he's not Paula Deen or Ted Nugent or even Mel Gibson...he's one of the all-stars of the political left. So there was basically silence in the face of his homophobia.
But Baldwin apologized anyway. He said, quote, "My ill-advised attack on George Stark...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."
But he also made a very lame attempt to explain that when he angrily calls a man a "queen", it has nothing to do with homophobia.
He said, quote, "A queen to me has a different meaning. It's somebody who's just above. It doesn't have any necessarily sexual connotations.
"To me a queen...I know women that act queeny, I know men that are straight that act queeny, and I know gay men that act queeny. It doesn't have to be a definite sexual connotation, or a homophobic connotation.
"To me those are people who think the rules don't apply to them." (Wow. If you buy that, Aaron Hernandez's attorney would like to borrow you for jury duty.)
As lame as the apology was, GLAAD bought it, probably because they were desperate to put this behind them. They said, quote, "Allies like Baldwin are right to use these moments to reinforce support for the community and LGBT equality."
Who knows if he's still fighting the good fight, but on Friday, Anderson Cooper broke liberal ranks to Tweet the truth.
He said, quote, "Why does Alec Baldwin get a pass when he uses gay slurs? If a conservative talked of beating up a 'queen' they would be vilified."
Much like Mel Gibson, I have a feeling Alec's problem isn't really racism, but ANGER. When he lashes out, he lashes out hard, and uses the verbal weapons he thinks will be the most hurtful. Like when he called his own daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig".
Or earlier this year, when he called a black reporter a "crackhead" and a "drug dealer", and ALLEGEDLY called him the racial slur that starts with a "C" and rhymes with MOON.
But that doesn't excuse this. At all. And anyone who sticks up for him is taking a stand AGAINST the gay community. It doesn't matter WHY he uses this kind of language. HE DOESN'T GET A PASS.