Alec Baldwin quits Twitter after Weinstein comments spur backlash

Alec Baldwin announced Saturday morning that he would be stepping away from his Twitter account following backlash over his recent remarks regarding women settling sexual harassment suits in the context of Harvey Weinstein.

“It is w some degree of sadness that I will suspend posting on this a TWITTER account for a period of and in the current climate,” he wrote.

“It was never my intention, in my public statements, to ‘blame the victim’ in the many sexual assault cases that have emerged recently,” he continued.

“I simply posited that the settlement of such cases certainly delayed justice, though I am fully aware that those settlements were entered into w the understanding that settlement is wise, intimidated into believing so.”

He added that his heart goes out to all the victims of sexual assault and that his foundation will continue to post on the topic of its work with the arts and environment.

Baldwin faced backlash over comments regarding settlements that he made during an interview with PBS NewsHour, in which he pointed out that when women settle sexual harassment suits and are silenced in the process through NDAs, “the course of change” is delayed.

“When you talked about Harvey Weinstein in the business, you knew that he was highly intrusive in the process of making films … you knew that he was a very intense guy … and last but not least, you heard the rumor that he raped Rose McGowan. You heard that over and over — we heard that for decades. And nothing was done,” he began.

“Rose McGowan took a payment of $100,000 and settled her case with him,” he continued, after being asked why no one had come forward if they were aware of the alleged incident. “And it was for Rose McGowan to prosecute that case.”

He referenced a New York Times article and stated that many people had wondered, “Do the settlement of these cases hurt the cause of exposing and bringing us to a place of real change?”

“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’s going to hurt your career — when they do it, nonetheless, does it set back the course of change? That’s an issue, I think,” he finished.

Asia Argento, who accused Weinstein of raping her in a New Yorker piece following the original New York Times exposé, retweeted the PBS NewHour video, and wrote, “Hey, [Alec Baldwin] you’re either a complete moron or providing cover for your pals and saving your own rep. Maybe all three.”

She followed up with a second tweet: “Alec Baldwin mansplaining ‘the cause’ for women everywhere. That’s a good caption for that video.”

She also commented on Baldwin’s departure from Twitter, asserting, “We won’t miss you bully boy.”