Alec Baldwin finally returned to Howard Stern after many years. The comedic and acting legend discussed his new podcast, an upcoming show and took time to address his alleged use of a racial slur.
Stern started off the interview by praising Alec for his career and recent weight loss:
“Alec Baldwin is one of the greatest actors of our times. He’s in the new Woody Allen movie Blue Jasmine and I’m always anxious to sit down Alec. I have so many things to talk about with him. He is a top notch actor. He looks good because he has lost weight.”
Stern quickly shifted gears and addressed rumors that Baldwin was going to host his own show, saying:
“First of all...you were being mentioned as a possible latenight replacement for Jimmy Fallon. How aware of that were you?”
Alec, in his typical fashion, didn’t hold back:
“I have tried...well, I made a deal with NBC to develop shows for them, whether it was an hour of a half hour. It was an open-ended conversation. And the conversation moved for me to take the podcast that I’m doing for WNYC and making it into a TV Show. What they did with Seth was the right thing to do. Sometimes with those shows, when they do the 12:00-12:30 (a.m.), Monday through Friday, the Friday drops off [ratings wise], so they either repeat on Friday and don’t do a fresh show...or they do something different and there was talk that I would do Friday, 12:30 a.m. once a week. That was the conversation...but now I’m having that conversation with someone else.”
Stern continued to praise Baldwin, telling him “You did an hour long podcast with David Letterman and I thought it was great. I didn’t want the hour to end.”
Of course, the flattery didn’t last long, as Stern began to question Baldwin about his past controversy, including when it was alleged that Alec used a racial slur against a paparazzo. Alec revealed the truth behind the squabble:
“I got called down to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and they said ‘We are investigating whether or not you committed a hate crime--you called him a racial epithet.’ Check this out...now on The Post, I can show you a link that will show you where they didn’t say ‘alleged.’ They accused me of saying it. They just said I was a racist. It was upsetting and disturbing. Now we are there and the young woman who was accompanying [the paparazzo] was there. And I said, ‘I’m sure you have copies of the tape. You’re a reporter. Don’t you have a tape?’ All the energy just left them...They knew I didn’t say it and they admitted to having a tape that proved it.”
