I struggle to understand how Alec Baldwin sees himself within the framework of Hollywood and politics. As an outsider looking in on both of those worlds, I think Baldwin is probably greatly respected as an actor (because he is genuinely talented), although his peers probably think he’s something of a gigantic a–hole. But Baldwin has never been respected in Hollywood or Washington or New York for his political views. He’s always been a liberal Democrat and a donor to the Democratic party and progressive causes. But literally no one is looking to Baldwin to be a spokesperson on hot-button issues involving politics or Hollywood or sexual abuse or anything like that. Considering Baldwin’s reputation as the angriest Rage Bear in New York, you’d think Alec would just go dark and not say a f–king thing in the current world of Sex Predatorgate 2017. No one is sitting around thinking, “Gee, I wonder if Alec Baldwin has any thoughts on Rose McGowan?” He did have thoughts and those thoughts were hot garbage.

We learned from Baldwin’s public statements on Harvey Weinstein and Rose McGowan that he operates, in every situation, with a heavy dose of victim-blaming, even when the rapist or assailant or harasser is a powerful man who was literally hiring ex-Mossad agents to track and gaslight victims. After his Weinstein comments were widely criticized, Baldwin claimed he would be leaving Twitter. That lasted a few weeks. He’s currently tweeting garbage from his foundation’s Twitter account. Garbage like… John Oliver was too mean to Dustin Hoffman! And he thinks the #MeToo movement is in jeopardy of “derailing” because too many perverts and abusers are being outed. Those are HIS friends, you guys!

It’s been a bit of a weird week for Alec Baldwin and his Twitter account. Seemingly prompted by John Oliver, host of HBO’s popular Last Week Tonight, grilling Dustin Hoffman about his alleged history of sexual harassment at a Wag the Dog anniversary screening, Baldwin took to his foundation’s account to express his displeasure at how late-night programs are evolving. “Talk shows were once promotional pit stops for some blithe chit chat about movies, etc,” he wrote at the time. “Now the likes of @iamjohnoliver and @StephenAtHome have flipped that and they are beginning to resemble grand juries.” He echoed that sentiment while swinging by Megyn Kelly Today, and he’s now offering further clarification about his views.

“I did not suggest that late night hosts ‘stick to’ blithe chitchat. I merely pointed out that the migration from then to now is striking. And that I believe @iamjohnoliver was rather heavy-handed in his approach to [Dustin Hoffman],” Baldwin wrote. “People have lost their jobs, their reputations and the legacy of their good/great work. Some have deserved that. Some have not. And all without a single conviction in a courtroom. If Weinstein is not convicted in court, this movement may be in jeopardy of derailing.” He’ll certainly have plenty more to say on his new talk show.

[From Vulture]

As the great Ira Madison would say, “Keep it.” This is not the moment to argue “Predators have lost their jobs, their reputations and the legacy of their good/great work” when we’re having a national/international conversation about sexual harassment, abuse, rape and assault. When you feel the urge to say something about an abuser’s good work, think about all of the work you never got to see from all of the victims whose LIVES AND CAREERS were forever altered because a predator abused their power. And what is Baldwin’s obsession with getting “convictions”? If that’s the only standard he has for believing women – that they can only be believed if they file criminal charges and their abusers get convicted – then he needs to actually read the true accounts of many of these victims.

Photos courtesy of WENN.