Alec Baldwin admits to 'treating women in a very sexist way'

'I’ve bullied women. I’ve overlooked women. I’ve underestimated women,' the actor says

Actor Alec Baldwin speaks at the Hamptons International Film Festival (Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Hamptons International Film Festival)

Actor Alec Baldwin has admitted to “bullying” women, in the midst of a national conversation about gendered harassment in Hollywood.

Mr Baldwin spoke out at a Paley Center for Media luncheon held in his honour. His speech comes amid weeks of discussion about sexual harassment, sexual assault and gender-based discrimination in Hollywood.

Mr Baldwin, who has been dogged by reports of a bad temper throughout his career, admitted to having “treated women in a very sexist way”.

“I’ve bullied women. I’ve overlooked women. I’ve underestimated women,” he said. “Not as a rule. 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.”

The 59-year-old actor came under fire just last week, when he told a female journalist to “stick to divorces and plastic surgery”.

“I would send you an email, on any subject, if you weren’t such a dishonest, awful writer,” Mr Baldwin wrote in response to reporter Kayla Cobb’s request for comment.

Ms Cobb had written an article revisiting a movie Mr Baldwin had made with director James Toback, who has been accused of sexual harassment by more than 300 women. Mr Toback has denied the allegations.

Mr Baldwin initially declined to comment on the Toback allegations, but later told the Los Angeles Times that his relationship with the director had been “strictly business”.

"I never knew any details of what he did that was assault in nature or rape in nature or criminally actionable,” he told the Times, while admitting that the director had “an appetite for going up to women and saying salacious and provocative things to them”.

Allegations against Mr Toback, and other Hollywood bigwigs, poured out this month in the wake of a bombshell New York Times report on sexual harassment allegations against producer Harvey Weinstein. Mr Baldwin addressed the surge of reports in his speech on Thursday.

“I knew of certain things, that there were rumours of things happening to people,” he said, “but I didn’t necessarily know the scope.”

He added: “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.”

Mr Baldwin was honoured on Thursday for his acting career, and for his support of the Paley Center’s educational initiatives. Mr Baldwin is known for his work in movies such as “The Aviator” and “The Descendants,” and TV shows such as “30 Rock” and “Saturday Night Live”.