The Slatest

MSNBC Pulls Plug on Alec Baldwin’s Late-Night Talk Show

Actor Alec Baldwin leaves Manhattan Criminal Court after testifying against accused stalker Canadian actress Genevieve Sabourin November 12, 2013 in New York

Photo by Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images

There’s still some debate over exactly who broke up with whom, but the end result remains the same: Alec Baldwin’s MSNBC talk show is no longer. “We are jointly confirming that Up Late will not continue on MSNBC,” the network and Baldwin’s team said in a joint statement this afternoon shortly after the New York Post first reported that the hot-tempered actor had been fired.

Baldwin’s late(ish)-night talk show had been set to return this Friday, two weeks after the actor was suspended for apparently hurling a gay slur at a photog trying to snap a picture of him and his family on the street. As the Hollywood Reporter points out, the end of the short-lived talk show isn’t exactly a surprise, particularly given rumors of creative differences behind the scenes along with its lackluster ratings. Five weeks in, the Friday night show had just 395,000 viewers, down 40 percent from its premiere.

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