Alec Baldwin landed in hot water after he referred to Blackout Tuesday as “National Day Of Whatever”. The actor, 62, defended his decision to promote an episode of his podcast with controversial director Woody Allen, 84, on June 2 while millions of people across the globe protested racial injustice and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd‘s tragic death. Alec captioned the Instagram post, promoting his podcast Here’s The Thing, without any mention of Blackout Tuesday.
“Woody Allen’s new book, Apropos of Nothing, starts with a portrait of his father, a tough-guy World War One Navy veteran and onetime gunman in a firing squad,” he began. “It’s the first of a series of surprising, fascinating stories from a life that went from working-class Jewish Brooklyn in the 1940s to movie sets in Rome and Paris. The book also addresses the accusation of an incident of sexual abuse leveled by Dylan Farrow. Allen and Alec cover it all — plus how he’s doing in the age of coronavirus — in this candid and wide-ranging interview.”
Followers were quick to slam Alec, not only for giving Woody Allen a platform amid the sexual assault allegations which have been leveled at him, but also for posting on Blackout Tuesday. The grassroots social media movement encouraged users to stop posting about their work, or everyday lives, and educate themselves on racial injustice and the Black Lives Matter movement for one day.
Alec then fired back, writing, “In the course of this podcast, we have often booked guests that have either requested or required a specific posting date in order to promote a project. We make every effort to honor those requests. Allen is no exception. As for the perceived lack of sensitivity re BlackOutTuesday, I had no idea about this … national day of whatever.”
The Saturday Night Live star also added, “The professional lives of some people cannot be put on hold at the whims of political correctness. I believe Allen is innocent and that is my right. Posting a black screen today or any other day, though a decent sentiment, is not an effective political stance. Voting, and working to enroll others to vote, is more … practical.”