Alec Baldwin. Image by Getty

By Irene Katz Connelly November 11, 2020

After hosting his talk show “Here’s the Thing” on WNYC since 2011, actor and comedian Alec Baldwin is decamping to iHeartRadio — because of Woody Allen.

The shift is Baldwin’s latest demonstration of loyalty to Allen, his longtime friend, whose directorial career has in recent years been overshadowed by allegations of sexual abuse by his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow.

In a November 5 interview with Billboard, Baldwin said that after inviting Allen to the show in June, he clashed with WNYC producers, who required him to bring up the longstanding abuse allegations during their exchange.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“Once WNYC said, ‘We won’t air the interview unless you ask these questions’ and forced that editorial content on me like that, I knew I was out of there,” Baldwin said.

While Dylan Farrow first came forward about the alleged abuse in 1992, the director, who denies any wrongdoing, brushed off the accusations. For decades, he continued making critically-acclaimed films, including two starring Baldwin, “Blue Jasmine” and “To Rome With Love.” Only recently has Allen become persona non grata in the entertainment industry: In the wake of the #MeToo movement, during which Farrow revived her accusations in an interview with “CBS This Morning,” Amazon cancelled a four-movie deal with Allen and several movie stars apologized publicly for working with him.

Baldwin is a notable exception to that trend, tweeting that criticism of the director was “unfair and sad” and telling Reuters that “accusing people of such crimes should be treated carefully.”

Beyond fraying Baldwin’s relationship with WNYC, the Allen interview on “Here’s the Thing” gained some notoriety as “the least essential interview of 2020.” Podcasters Julie Klausner and Tom Scharpling, hosts of the podcast “Double Threat,” even bestowed upon it an honor only a fellow talk show host could give: an entire episode of their own podcast, devoted to a play-by-play takedown.

Irene Katz Connelly is an editorial fellow at the Forward. You can contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @katz_conn.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount