Alec Baldwin ended his short-lived cable news career with a bang on Tuesday, slamming what he described as "fundamentalist" gay activists for the end of his MSNBC show.
Speaking to Gothamist, Baldwin was scathing:
I dispute half the comment I made... if I called him 'c--ksucking maggot' or a 'c--ksucking motherf--ker'... 'faggot' is not the word that came out of my mouth. That I know. But you've got the fundamentalist wing of gay advocacy--Rich Ferraro and Andrew Sullivan--they're out there, they've got you. Rich Ferraro, this is probably one of his greatest triumphs. They killed my show. And I have to take some responsibility for that myself."
It was, at the very least, an audacious way to comment on a show that ended after Baldwin was forced to apologize for using anti-gay language that was caught on tape. Rich Ferarro--who is the leading spokesman for GLAAD--responded sharply:
I consider GLAAD's campaigns to end the Boy Scout of America's ban on gay scouts, raise national visibility of the violence and inequality facing transgender people, and battling for marriage equality to be among my 'greatest triumphs.' But if a teacher, coach, local radio show host, or parent realizes that anti-LGBT slurs are outdated and unacceptable because of this Baldwin issue, I guess we'll call it a win. Alec Baldwin's team has not been open to turning this incident into an opportunity for public education and that's unfortunate.