At a lunch in his honor on Thursday, Alec Baldwin delved into his less-than-honorable side.
While addressing the recent rash of sexual misconduct allegations in the entertainment industry, the 59-year-old actor admitted regret for his own behavior toward women at times.
“I certainly have treated women in a very sexist way,” he said at the Paley Center for Media event in New York City, per The Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve bullied women. I’ve overlooked women. I’ve underestimated women. Not as a rule. From time to time, I’ve done what a lot of men do, which is … when you don’t treat women the same way you treat men. You don’t. I’m from a generation where you really don’t and I’d like that to change. I really would like that to change.”
Baldwin, best known recently for impersonating Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live,” said workplace equality is needed both inside and outside Hollywood. He had heard rumors of people being mistreated in the entertainment business but didn’t realize how rampant the problem was until women and men began sharing their stories publicly.
“It’s been a very eye-opening experience for me personally,” Baldwin said, per THR. “We’ve got to be vigilant in a new way to make sure that everybody is comfortable and that we get the job done together that we’re there to do.”
Last week, Baldwin took heat for telling a female journalist to “stick to divorces and plastic surgery” as he expressed anger over being mentioned in her article about director James Toback. Many women say they experienced sexual harassment from the director, with whom Baldwin once appeared in a documentary.
Over the past month, hundreds of people have come forward to say they experienced predatory behavior by prominent Hollywood figures including Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman and Brett Ratner.
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