Actor Alec Baldwin seems to be questioning why he was sacked by MSNBC while Martin Bashir still has a show on the network.
MSNBC canceled Alec Baldwin’s talk show Up Late on Tuesday in the aftermath of his recent run-in with a paparazzo. The network initially suspended Up Late for two weeks after Baldwin allegedly shouted homophobic slurs at a photographer trying to take pictures of the former 30 Rock star and his family leaving their Manhattan apartment on November 14.
On November 15, Martin Bashir made some vile and disgusting scripted remarks about former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on his low-rated MSNBC show. The following Monday, Bashir offered a groveling apology for suggesting someone should defecate and urinate in Governor Palin’s mouth.
MSNBC has not revealed publicly what kind of discipline, if any, it imposed on Martin Bashir, who is currently on vacation according to a network spokesman
In an interview with the Gothamist about being canned by MSNBC, Baldwin said “Martin Bashir’s on the air, and he made his comment on the air! I dispute half the comment I made…”
Baldwin insisted that he never hurled a gay slur at the photographer and partially blamed it on “TMZ’s enhanced audio.”
The 30 Rock star also slammed two gay rights advocates for the loss of his MSNBC show: “But you’ve got the fundamentalist wing of gay advocacy — Rich Ferraro and Andrew Sullivan — they’re out there, they’ve got you. Rich Ferraro, this is probably one of his greatest triumphs. They killed my show. And I have to take some responsibility for that myself.”
Rich Ferraro is the vice president of GLAAD while Andrew Sullivan is prominent political commentator.
MSNBC may have more issues apart from Baldwin and Bashir. According to MediaBistro , MSNBC has lost about 45 percent of its viewers since last November (down 52 percent in the 18-54 cohort), and CNN was down about 59 percent.
Do you think MSNBC is justified in apparently treating Alec Baldwin and Martin Bashir differently?