Alec Baldwin Skips 63rd Annual Emmys, But Not Because of Rupert Murdoch Joke

Alec Baldwin says Fox Network is not to blame for his absence from the 63rd Emmy Awards on Sunday night. Early reports claimed the actor ditched the Emmys after Fox decided to cut a joke aimed at News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch. Fox made the call to cut Baldwin’s bit, which poked fun at Britain’s News of the World phone hacking scandal, fearing it would be distasteful to make light of such serious allegations.

Instead Baldwin attended Tony Bennett’s 85th birthday gala in New York, telling EW reporters, “I didn’t skip the Emmys because of that… I skipped the Emmys because of this – because I wanted to be here,” adding that he would simply watch the Emmys on YouTube. He followed up by tweeting, “Fox did kill my NewsCorp hacking joke. Which sucks bc I think it would have made them look better. A little.”

The actor had signed up to host the birthday gala long before the Emmy broadcast had been scheduled. Executives at Fox say the decision was made entirely at the Fox Network level, and not by anyone at News Corp.

You can check out Baldwin on his hit NBC series 30 Rock. He was also a recent guest host on SNL’s 2011 season premiere. Check out Alec Baldwin on Inside the Actors Studio, talking about his hit SNL skit, “Schwetty Balls”:

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