Following controversial remarks on Hollywood accusers, the actor told Megyn Kelly he doesn't want to see innocent people "get hurt."
Alec Baldwin is explaining his views on sexual assault and harassment accusations in Hollywood for his Twitter critics.
Just a month after the actor quit his personal Twitter account because of the overwhelming negative reception to his comments on accusers who accept settlements, Baldwin told Megyn Kelly on Thursday's edition of Megyn Kelly Today that he doesn't want to see innocent people "get hurt."
"I do find that, that whole issue [sexual assault and harassment in Hollywood], which is a big can of worms to open up really — it is really, really tough, because you certainly want to see everyone who is guilty of something, who have done bad things, wrong things that hurt people, you want to see those people get punished," Baldwin said. "There's a lot of accusations and no proof yet. I don't want to see people get hurt."
On Wednesday, following Dustin Hoffman's argument with John Oliver on Monday, Baldwin tweeted from his foundation handle that late-night shows, which once featured small talk for figures on promotional tours, had become "grand juries." Baldwin currently has a talk show based on his own WNYC radio show/podcast Here's the Thing With Alec Baldwin in development with ABC.
When Kelly asked whether Baldwin's comment was referring to late-night hosts like Oliver, Baldwin responded: "And a lot of people, by the way, they endorse that. They think that those hosts of those shows are perfectly not only within their rights, but it's very attractive or very necessary for them to be pressing this cause. I just don't want to see people who are innocent get into trouble."
In November, Baldwin came under fire from Rose McGowan, Patricia Arquette and Asia Argento on Twitter when he told PBS News Hour that he wondered whether women who settle cases of sexual harassment and assault are "bringing us to a place of real change." Facing negative direct messages from the actresses on Twitter, the actor suspended his personal account, though he continued to tweet on the handle of his foundation, The Hilaria and Alec Baldwin Foundation.
From that account, he criticized Argento and her boyfriend, Anthony Bourdain, in a now-deleted tweet that read "You should stick to eating worms and keep your mouth shut."
"We need to have more understanding of where, how we treat people," Baldwin said, concluding his remarks on the subject. "Like someone said to me, if we are in a conversation and I talk over you, that is a mild form of bullying, if I don't let you finish your sentence. And men do that to women all of the time."