Alec Baldwin responds to critics after he promoted a podcast episode with Woody Allen

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Alec Baldwin responded on social media after being criticized for promoting a new podcast episode with Woody Allen on "Blackout Tuesday." 

Baldwin took to Instagram on Tuesday to promote an upcoming episode of his popular podcast "Here’s the Thing" where he talks with Allen about his new book. However, followers were quick to criticize the star for self-promoting an episode with the controversial filmmaker on a day when people aren’t posting in favor of listening and educating themselves on the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

"Woody Allen's new book, ‘Apropos of Nothing,’ starts with a portrait of his father, a tough-guy World War One Navy veteran and onetime gunman in a firing squad. It's the first of a series of surprising, fascinating stories from a life that went from working-class Jewish Brooklyn in the 1940s to movie sets in Rome and Paris," Baldwin wrote on Instagram. "The book also addresses the accusation of an incident of sexual abuse leveled by Dylan Farrow. Allen and Alec cover it all -- plus how he's doing in the age of coronavirus -- in this candid and wide-ranging interview.

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Many were quick to take to the comments of Baldwin’s post to criticize him for not only not observing Blackout Tuesday, but promoting the work of Allen amid allegations he sexually abused Dylan Farrow. Baldwin, who has publicly stuck up for the director amid those allegations in the past, later posted a conversation he had in the comments in which he explained his decision to promote his episode. 

"In the course of this podcast, we have often booked guests that have either requested or required a specific posting date in order to promote a project. We make every effort to honor those requests. Allen is no exception," Baldwin explained. 

He went on to criticize the concept of Black Out Tuesday and encouraging his followers to try and affect more tangible change. 

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"As for the perceived lack of sensitivity re BlackOutTuesday, I had no idea about this...national day of whatever," he wrote. "Three things: the professional lives of some people cannot be put on hold at the whims of political correctness. I believe Allen is innocent and that is my right. Posting a black screen today or any other day, though a decent sentiment, is not an effective political stance. Voting, and working to enroll others to vote, is more… practical." 

Alec Baldwin was criticized for promoting a podcast episode with Woody Allen on Black Out Tuesday. (Reuters)

Later, Baldwin reshared a post from his daughter Ireland in which she defended her father and questioned the efficacy of Black Out Tuesday.

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"i’m shedding light to the posts that my black activist friends are continuing to post and get out there," she wrote in part. "i think everyone commenting negatively is missing the whole idea here. defending my dad because i know his intentions and where his heart is at. let’s all educate one another and create a safe space for conversation because that is how we are going to learn and grow as white people. we have to do better and listen but there are one too many white voices on here who think they have all the answers and are missing the entire point."