Paula Deen apologized last week for using a racial slur decades ago, and Alec Baldwin apologized for using a slur against homosexuals just this week, but ABC News used slightly different verbiage when reporting on them this weekend.
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"The newest alleged slur from Alec Baldwin," weekend anchor David Muir said in a teaser for "World News Tonight" on Saturday. The word "alleged" was just another example of the liberal media showing their " hypocritical colors,"
wrote Noel Sheppard of NewsBusters.
Fox News Richard Grenell contributor tweeted:
The trouble started for the actor and ad pitchman after British reporter George Stark accused Baldwin's wife, Hilaria, of sending tweets during actor James Gandolfini's funeral. Some of the tweets were about smoothie recipes.
"I’m going to find you, George Stark, you toxic little queen, and I’m gonna f--k…you…up,"
Baldwin tweeted.
"If [sic] put my foot up your f---ing ass, George Stark, but I’m sure you’d dig it too much?" he tweeted later.
ABC News didn't include the second tweet in their report, prompting NewsBusters' Sheppard to note, "They must have thought it was too incriminating."
"Alec Baldwin is kind of a loveable rogue," Howard Bragman of Reputation.com said on the ABC News report. "We're kind of sensitized to the fact that Alec Baldwin’s had another outburst."
Baldwin's temper first became famous when he left a voicemail several years ago for his then-11-year-old daughter, calling her a "rude, thoughtless little pig."
In February, he called a
black photographer for The New York Post a "coon," "crack-head," and "drug dealer."
After his latest outburst, Baldwin wrote a semi-apology to the gay activist organization GLAAD: "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."
Baldwin also told Gothamist that he didn't mean "queen" as an anti-gay slur.
"A queen to me has a different meaning," he said. "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."
He added: "If homosexuality was an issue for me, I would have moved out of New York years ago. I find that laughable."
In his letter to GLAAD, Baldwin also pointed out that he has been an ardent supporter of gay rights, writing "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."
GLAAD's 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."
Though Baldwin has revived his Twitter account after previous flounces, he told Gothamist that this time he's going to stay off: "No, good God no. There are so many aspects of this that I'm so done with now, and only because I don't want to provide," he said, adding that his decision was influenced by Gandolfini's lack of Twitter account.
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"One thing about Jimmy Gandolfini was that he wasn't on Twitter," he said, "I thought, 'you know something? I'm gonna take a lesson from Jimmy Gandolfini.'"
It was unclear whether Baldwin might suffer any Paula Deen-like backlash for his remarks. Calls to Capital One, for which Baldwin is a spokesman, were not returned.
Information from Reuters news service was used in this report.
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