MSNBC rewards Badwin's bad behavior with primetime gig

Flailing "news" network MSNBC reportedly is giving actor Alec Baldwin his own prime-time show.

Baldwin, known for "30 Rock," SNL gigs and other on-screen work, also is known for vicious, angry tirades on social media, including threats of physical violence, anti-gay slurs and bigotry.

In one of the more recent instances of Baldwin putting his anger management issues out for public display, he sent a series of tweets voicing his displeasure with Mail Online reporter George Stark, who had reported that Baldwin's wife, Hilaria, was tweeting during funeral services for actor James Gandolfini. It would be reported later that a Twitter glitch showed incorrect timestamps on Hilaria's tweets, so she wasn't actually tweeting during the funeral.

The bigger story, though, was that before the glitch was known, Baldwin rebutted the accusations by unleashing his own string of vulgar tweets threatening Stark and making anti-gay remarks.He also calls on his Twitter followers to attack Stark.

 

 

I wasn't really offended by Baldwin's Twitter rant, because (a) I just don't care that much about what any celebrity has to say about anything and (b) I'm rather coarse myself, so I can understand why Baldwin would be angry if a reporter mistakenly attacked his wife. I get that. What bothered me when this story broke was the lack of backlash by the mainstream media -- I couldn't help but think that if a conservative celebrity had done the same thing, he/she would be all over the news. 

 

For example, Paula Deen's career was completely ruined when it was revealed that, at some point in the past, she may have used the word "nigger" in a joke.

The admission came out during testimony in a discrimination case -- filed by a white employee -- which eventually was tossed by a judge. But still, she lost it all -- book deals, three TV shows, and her reputation.

I wasn't alone in wondering why Baldwin would get a pass. CNN's Anderson Cooper also took to Twitter to express his dismay at the difference in media attention.

 

This isn't the first time Baldwin has been shown to have a serious problem acting like an adult in the public eye. 

 

When his daughter, Ireland, was 11, during a custody dispute, Baldwin was caught on tape admonishing her, "“You are a rude, thoughtless pig. You don’t have the brains or the decency as a human being.” To his own daughter. I know I did some awful stuff as a kid, probably drove my folks batty, and yet they managed to never say something so hurtful, so awful -- and they didn't have millions of dollars and the luxury of zero real responsibility.  

 

But Baldwin also has been accused of having some racial epithets up his sleeve, too. 

 

While Deen lost her livelihood  because she used a word -- not against someone, just used the word -- Baldwin was accused of angrily calling a black photographer a "coon." 

 

In the same incident, he is said to have a told a reporter, "I want you to choke to death."

Baldwin denied the claims.

There's also the incident in which Baldwin was tossed from a flight after an altercation with a flight attendant.

Look, none of this matters, I get that. It's just more bizarre behavior from a somewhat unhinged Hollywooder. The issue is that a person who seems to consistently exhibit this type of behavior shouldn't be rewarded with more fame and fortune. If Deen's career can be ruined because she admitted to having uttered the "n-word," then why is Baldwin's behavior not only accepted, but rewarded?