MSNBC on Friday announced that Alec
Baldwin's late-night show would be suspended for two weeks over
Baldwin's use of a gay slur.
Up Late with Alec Baldwin
premiered on October 11 and won't return until Friday, November 29.
“I did not intend to hurt or offend
anyone with my choice of words, but clearly I have – and for that I
am deeply sorry,” Baldwin
said in a statement. “Words are important. I understand that
and will choose mine with great care going forward. What I said and
did this week, as I was trying to protect my family, was offensive
and unacceptable. Behavior like this undermines hard-fought rights
that I vigorously support. I understand Up Late will be taken
off the schedule for tonight and next week.”
In a video published
by TMZ.com, Baldwin is seen in an altercation with a photographer
outside his apartment. TMZ.com claims the actor called the
photographer a “cocksucking fag” before getting into his car.
Baldwin denied the claim, saying
he said “cocksucking fathead.”
Baldwin said in a tweet that he had
been “informed” that “c'sucker is an anti-gay epithet. In
which case I apologize and will retire it from my vocabulary.”
However, the apology did little to calm
critics.
GLAAD spokesman Rich Ferraro responded
to the suspension: “Alec Baldwin still needs to take real action.
MSNBC has sent a message that anti-gay slurs carry consequences, and
that's an important standard to uphold at a time when LGBT people
continue to face disproportionate levels of bullying and violence
just because of who they are.”
Earlier this year, Baldwin made
headlines when he called a tabloid reporter a “toxic little queen”
in a tweet.