The talk of late surrounding Alex Baldwin is not how funny he was on his run on 30 Rock, the Tina Fey-written sitcom that had Baldwin keeping audiences in stitches with his straight-man comedy. Instead, Baldwin is in the press for the all the wrong reasons. It's fairly well-known that Baldwin has something of a temper, evidenced by the condescending phone message he once left for his daughter.
This time around, however, Baldwin is being investigated for a possible hate crime after a run-in with a reporter and camera operator left some ruffled feathers. The 54-year-old actor allegedly got into a verbal altercation with a New York Post photographer. A rep for the NYPD told media sources that "Our hate crimes task force is reviewing the case." The story goes that reporter Tara Palmeri and photographer G.N. Miller approached Baldwin outside his apartment in the East Village while trying to get a comment from him about the reports that his wife, Hilaria Thomas, is being sued.
Obviously that could irritate someone, especially as Thomas is pregnant and Baldwin surely doesn't want to have her endure any undue stress. The reporter/photographer pair indicated that Baldwin said "I want to choke you to death" and then made a racial comment directed at Miller, who is African-American. Miller, a retired NYPD detective, said that Baldwin called him a "coon," a "drug dealer" and a "crackhead."
Baldwin responded, "The claim of racist remarks is one of the most outrageous things I've heard in my life. If you want to put words in my mouth, I've certainly had my moments. But this is not one of them. I don't think I've ever uttered a racial epithet to someone in my lifetime." All in all, this is probably much ado about nothing, especially as it appears that no crime was actually committed, much less one that was premeditated in some manner to lash out against a particular ethnic group.
This time around, however, Baldwin is being investigated for a possible hate crime after a run-in with a reporter and camera operator left some ruffled feathers. The 54-year-old actor allegedly got into a verbal altercation with a New York Post photographer. A rep for the NYPD told media sources that "Our hate crimes task force is reviewing the case." The story goes that reporter Tara Palmeri and photographer G.N. Miller approached Baldwin outside his apartment in the East Village while trying to get a comment from him about the reports that his wife, Hilaria Thomas, is being sued.
Obviously that could irritate someone, especially as Thomas is pregnant and Baldwin surely doesn't want to have her endure any undue stress. The reporter/photographer pair indicated that Baldwin said "I want to choke you to death" and then made a racial comment directed at Miller, who is African-American. Miller, a retired NYPD detective, said that Baldwin called him a "coon," a "drug dealer" and a "crackhead."
Baldwin responded, "The claim of racist remarks is one of the most outrageous things I've heard in my life. If you want to put words in my mouth, I've certainly had my moments. But this is not one of them. I don't think I've ever uttered a racial epithet to someone in my lifetime." All in all, this is probably much ado about nothing, especially as it appears that no crime was actually committed, much less one that was premeditated in some manner to lash out against a particular ethnic group.
