Alec Baldwin says 'au revoir' to Twitter, Asia Argento won't miss him

Alec Baldwin won’t be tweeting for a while, taking at least a temporary break after getting heat from comments he made about sexual harassment settlements and being accused of “mansplaining” by Asia Argento.

Baldwin made his farewell in a string of six tweets (see them below), beginning by noting that “it is with some degree of sadness” that he will suspend posting “for a period” and “in the current climate.”

“It was never my intention, in my public statements, to ‘blame the victim’ in the many sexual assault cases that have emerged recently,” he wrote. “I simply posited that the settlement of such cases certainly delayed justice … My heart goes out to all such victims. My goal is to do better in all things related to gender equality. Au revoir.”

Baldwin’s decision follows an interview he gave to PBS yesterday (see it below) in which he conceded that people “in the business” knew that Harvey Weinstein was “highly intrusive in the process of making films,” was “a very bullying guy,” and that everyone “had heard the rumor that he raped Rose McGowan. You heard that over and over — we heard that for decades. And nothing was done.”

“Rose McGowan took a payment of $100,000 and settled her case with him,” Baldwin said. “And it was for Rose McGowan to prosecute that case.”

Referencing a recent New York Times article, Baldwin said, “When women take money and are silenced by that money, even though they took the money and were silenced because they were told, beyond the money, it was the right thing for them to do, keep quiet, don’t make too many waves, it is going to hurt your career, when they do it, nonetheless, does it set back the cause of change?”

Baldwin also addressed his recent press statement owning up to “bullying” women in the past.

“Well, I mean, bullying in terms of, if I have — you know, if I have an argument with my wife and I raise my voice, that’s bullying.

“It doesn’t — I mean, I’m not involved in any of the sexual harassment claims that are being made in the media now. But in the way that we treat women differently from men in any way, that’s — we’re learning. That’s something we’re learning we have to take a long look at and change.”

Asked whether he fears somebody from his own past coming forward, Baldwin said, “No. No, no, no, not at all.”

The interview didn’t go down well with Asia Argento, one of Weinstein’s many accusers. She tweeted that Baldwin was “either a complete moron or providing cover for your pals and saving your own rep. Maybe all three.”

Then this:

Then Baldwin announced his break from Twitter.

Then Argento bid her own au revoir to Baldwin:

Then these little post-scripts:

Here is Baldwin, in his own words:

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