Famously temperamental actor Alec Baldwin is once again making headlines for bad behavior. A photographer for New York's Daily News claims that the 30 Rock star punched him after he tried to take a photo of Baldwin outside the Marriage License Bureau in New York. (One of the photog's colleagues was also on hand to take pictures of the altercation.) Following the incident, Baldwin tweeted that all paparazzi should be "waterboarded" and that "I suppose if the offending paparazzi was wearing a hood, and I shot him, it would all blow over." The incident is just the latest outburst from the actor. Here, a look back at his past tirades — and the escalating rate at which they're popping up:
Dec. 15, 1998
Baldwin condemns Republican Rep. Henry Hyde, a leader in managing the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, during an appearance on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien. In any other country, Baldwin says, "we would stone Henry Hyde to death and we [would] go to their homes and we'd kill their wives and children." He later apologizes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
April 20, 2007
An angry voicemail that Baldwin leaves his 11-year-old daughter, Ireland, goes public. The call comes in the midst of a heated custody dispute between Baldwin and ex-wife Kim Bassinger. On the voicemail, Baldwin calls his daughter "a rude, thoughtless little pig," who doesn't "have the brains or the decency as a human being." Apparently, Baldwin is upset that Ireland didn't answer her phone for a planned call. "You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone," he warns. He later apologizes.
Sept. 7, 2011
Baldwin takes to Twitter to complain about subpar service at Starbucks, but isn't exactly politically correct: "Starbucks on 93 and B'way. Uptight Queen barrister named JAY has an attitude problem." Um, "does Alec Baldwin realize other people can see his tweets?" asks a horrified Noreen Malone at New York. Worse, a quick call to the location reveals that no one named Jay even works at that Starbucks, says Rosie Gray at The Village Voice.
Dec. 7, 2011
Baldwin is kicked off an American Airlines flight for refusing to turn off his cell phone after the plane's doors are closed for departure; he was reportedly engrossed in a game of Words With Friends. After ignoring a flight attendant's request to shut off his phone, he reportedly storms off to the bathroom. "He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed," the airline says. Baldwin apologizes, but still complains that flying has devolved into "a Greyhound bus experience."
Dec. 23, 2011
Mere weeks after losing his temper on a passenger jet, Baldwin reveals that he's abandoning his political ambitions. Why? Because politicians are "horny for their own ascension," he says in a WNYC radio interview. He compares politicians to men who can't wait to get their hands up their dates' blouses before the lights go out in a movie theater.
April 2, 2012
Baldwin lashes out on Twitter after New York's Daily News sends photographers to his fiance's yoga class to get photos of her new engagement ring. After discovering the identities of the offenders, Baldwin calls them out by tweeting a photo with the caption, "Here's the nutty bitch who crashed the yoga class today." He also insults the paper: "Rest in Peace, the New York Daily News, which was once a good newspaper. Now run by the same trash that runs the Post."
April 11, 2012
Baldwin blasts the Today show and NBC after the morning program sends a camera crew to his apartment building to film him following the arrest of a woman who was allegedly stalking the actor. Complaining on Twitter, Baldwin uses the hashtag "#howthemightyhavefallen" and says, "I think I'm leaving NBC just in time" — sparking a flurry of speculation that he is quitting his job on 30 Rock, a rumor that NBC quickly squashes.
May 23, 2012
During a party at the Cannes Film Festival, Baldwin tells "anyone who'd listen" that movie mogul Harvey Weinstein is a "fucking douchebag," says The Hollywood Reporter. Apparently upset that Weinstein opted not to back a documentary he was working on, Baldwin tells party-goers, "I don't care who knows. After the success he had at Cannes last year and all the fucking Oscars, he's still a fucking douchebag! I can't believe it."
June 19, 2012
Baldwin allegedly attacks New York Daily News photographer Marcus Santos after Santos attempts to take a photo of the actor. "He comes after me, starts shoving and punching me — one time, right in the chin," Santos says. The incident could result in criminal charges against the actor, according to MSNBC.
Sources: Daily Mail, Fox News (2), Gothamist, Hollywood Reporter, Jezebel, Media Research Center, MSNBC, New York (2), Village Voice, The Week, The Wrap
