Alec and Kim Staying Put in U.S.
Alec Baldwin is denying reports that he and wife Kim Basinger plan to leave the U.S. if George W. Bush should ultimately be declared the next president, and believes a right-wing conspiracy is behind the story's spread. As Baldwin tells TV Guide Online, the saga dates back to 1992, when a reporter asked him what he would do if [then-incumbent president] George Bush beat Bill Clinton. "And my exact words were, in a very offhanded way, 'It might be a good time to leave the country,'" recalls the staunch Democrat. "So, eight years later, a journalist in an interview with my wife brings up that quote and [asks], 'Well, if your husband is to leave the country, would you go with [him]?'" Naturally, Basinger replied that she would, and according to Baldwin, certain factions of the media — most notably Internet gossip guru Matt Drudge — had a field day. "Drudge prints in the Drudge Report, 'Baldwin Vows to Leave U.S. If Bu
As Baldwin tells TV Guide Online, the saga dates back to 1992, when a reporter asked him what he would do if [then-incumbent president] George Bush beat Bill Clinton. "And my exact words were, in a very offhanded way, 'It might be a good time to leave the country,'" recalls the staunch Democrat. "So, eight years later, a journalist in an interview with my wife brings up that quote and [asks], 'Well, if your husband is to leave the country, would you go with [him]?'"
Naturally, Basinger replied that she would, and according to Baldwin, certain factions of the media — most notably Internet gossip guru Matt Drudge — had a field day. "Drudge prints in the Drudge Report, 'Baldwin Vows to Leave U.S. If Bush Wins,' which I want to say unequivocally is not true," insists the 42-year-old star and executive producer of David Mamet's upcoming showbiz satire, State and Main. "I never said that. But as I've learned, your political opposites — particularly in the media — are totally lying in wait to ambush you and diminish you and marginalize you in any way they can... [so] what you wind up being is something to incite their crowd. As soon as Alec says that, the response is, 'Let us help you pack your bags. Can I drive you to the airport?' I got e-mails that would say this stuff day after day.
"Interestingly enough, mainstream media doesn't bother [writing about my political views]," he continues, citing the The New York Times as an example. "All of my coverage comes from right-wing media outlets. They're the ones that keep it in the air because it's fodder for their [propaganda]. The only one[s] that seem to be interested in a... dismissive and reductive and mean-spirited [way] is anything that's owned by [Rupert] Murdoch." [Murdoch's News Corporation is a major shareholder of Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., the parent company of TV Guide Online.]
Well, Baldwin — who says he tries to keep his political work as private as possible — may have found just the thing to silence his conservative critics, but good. "If I went out tomorrow and was the sponsor of school prayer," he says, "they would all probably jump out the window and commit suicide."