Alec Baldwin takes Twitter break after backlash over Weinstein comments

Alec Baldwin has announced he's stepping away from his Twitter account, after receiving a severe backlash for his comments on Harvey Weinstein.

During an interview with PBS NewsHour, the actor made comments which many perceived put the onus on Weinstein's accusers for taking settlements as opposed to coming forward with public accusations, completely ignoring the atmosphere of fear and compulsion that can leave many accusers feeling like they have no choice.

"When you talked about Harvey Weinstein in the business, you knew that he was highly intrusive in the process of making films … you knew that he was a very intense guy … and last but not least, you heard the rumor that he raped Rose McGowan. You heard that over and over — we heard that for decades. And nothing was done," Baldwin said.

When asked why no one had come forward if they were aware of the alleged incident, Baldwin replied, "Rose McGowan took a payment of $100,000 and settled her case with him. And it was for Rose McGowan to prosecute that case."

He then referenced a New York Times article on the subject, headlined 'A Long-Delayed Reckoning of the Cost of Silence on Abuse', and posed the question: "Do the settlement of these cases hurt the cause of exposing and bringing us to a place of real change?"

He added, "When women take money, and are silenced by that money – even though they took the money and were silenced because they were told beyond the money it was the right thing for them to do, keep quiet, don't make too many waves, it's going to hurt your career — when they do it, nonetheless, does it set back the course of change? That's an issue, I think."

One of those to swiftly criticise Baldwin's comments was Weinstein accuser Asia Argento, who wrote on Twitter: "Hey @AlecBaldwin you’re either a complete moron or providing cover for your pals and saving your own rep. Maybe all three." She added in a second tweet, "Alec Baldwin mansplaining ‘the cause’ for women everywhere. That’s a good caption for that video."

Hours later, Baldwin took to Twitter to clarify his remarks made in the interview and to announce that he'd be stepping away from the social media platform for a while.

"It is w some degree of sadness that I will suspend posting on this a TWITTER account for a period of and in the current climate," Baldwin tweeted Saturday. "It was never my intention, in my public statements, to ‘blame the victim’ in the many sexual assault cases that have emerged recently."

"I simply posited that the settlement of such cases certainly delayed justice, though I am fully aware that those settlements were entered into w the understanding that settlement is wise, intimidated into believing so," he continued. "My heart goes out to all such victims. My goal is to do better in all things related to gender equality."

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