Alec Baldwin’s Emmy Awards Show Exit

Alec Baldwin makes us laugh all the time here in the Hamptons, but tonight’s Emmy Awards in L.A. are another matter. It’s not Baldwin’s fault, but rather a move by Fox, which is airing the Emmys.

In a bit that was slated to help open the show, the 30 Rock star had made a joke about NewsCorp head Rupert Murdoch and the phone-hacking scandal that’s been a major issue for NewsCorp—the parent company of Fox. Oops. Baldwin hinted that the whack job might be coming when he Tweeted on Thursday that “I did a short Emmy pretape a few days ago. Now they tell me NewsCorp may cut the funniest line.”

Earlier today Baldwin confirmed those fears with a follow-up Tweet. “Fox did kill my NewsCorp hacking joke. Which sucks bc I think it would have made them look better. A little.” Fox has said that NewsCorp had nothing to do with the move, nor did the fact that the joke referenced Murdoch.

When the move sparked Baldwin’s decision to pull from the show entirely, Fox reworked a bit featuring Leonard Nimoy. Maybe this will get the Star Trek star a gig on 30 Rock with Baldwin later this year. Now that would make us laugh.