Alec Baldwin opened up about his treatment of women this week, telling a crowd of people gathered to honor him yesterday that, “I certainly have treated women in a very sexist way.” Inspired by the current conversation about harassment that was kicked off last month by the ongoing accusations against Harvey Weinstein, Baldwin made his comments during a ceremony at the Paley Center For Media celebrating his long entertainment career. “I’ve bullied women,” he continued—presumably causing the phrase “rude, thoughtless little pig” to pop up in hundreds of people’s brains all at once. “I’ve overlooked women. I’ve underestimated women. Not as a rule,” he cautioned. “From time to time, I’ve done what a lot of men do, which is…when you don’t treat women the same way you treat men. You don’t. I’m from a generation where you really don’t and I’d like that to change. I really would like that to change.”
Baldwin’s comments arrive as more and more women (and some men) in Hollywood are coming forward with stories of being harassed and assaulted by powerful people, and the cultural conversation seems to be shifting toward accepting these claims instead of racing to hush them up. Baldwin’s case is a little different though, in so far as no one has accused him of anything besides, honestly, being kind of a prick. (Not that bullying doesn’t have its own negative effects on the people around the bully, but there have been no accusations of sexual harassment or assault against him that we’re aware of, to date.)
Earlier this week, Baldwin told reporters that he was unaware of the hundreds of allegations against director James Toback, who he’s worked with on multiple movies. In his Paley Center speech, though, he did note that “I knew of certain things, that there were rumors of things happening to people.” “But,” he added, “I didn’t necessarily know the scope, when you hear the hundreds and hundreds of women who are complaining about this. It’s been a very eye-opening experience for me personally. We’ve got to be vigilant in a new way to make sure that everybody is comfortable and that we get the job done together that we’re there to do.”