The first episode of his post-‘Rust’ interview series, ‘Art Fraud,’ is a striking change from his confrontational interview series Hollywood. Alec Baldwin, an A-lister, has aired an hour-long radio show and podcast for the past decade — until the tragedy on the “Rust” movie set in Santa Fe last October, when he suspended fresh broadcasts.
“Here’s The Thing,” which is also producing the new venture, is now on hiatus but will return “soon,” according to its production company, Cavalry Media.
For the time being, Baldwin has returned with “Art Fraud,” a fictional true crime podcast about a scandal at New York City’s iconic Knoedler Gallery that cost tens of millions of dollars and led to the gallery’s demise.
“The kind of stuff he’s doing with this scam podcast is very, very much in a genre that is quite popular,” said Robert Thompson, director of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications’ Bleier Cente for Television and Popular Culture. “In reality, true crime podcasts were the first to really break through.”
He also told Fox News Digital that, despite the fact that more Americans are working from home and commuting less, podcast popularity is growing overall. However, after the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” on October 21, fresh episodes of “Here’s The Thing” ceased to air
“Given the gravity of the ‘Rust’ scenario, the first thing Alec Baldwin does after that is make sure it can’t be tasteless in any way, or that you can read something into it that could comment on the ‘Rust’ [incident],” Thompson explained. “I believe a true crime show like this is a very safe bet.”
Because it focuses on the dramatic world of art fraud, which is a long cry from the Santa Fe catastrophe.
He continued, “I don’t think you want to have a true crime item about a shooting.” “That’d be a very other scenario.”
Baldwin invited notable artists and policymakers on for “intimate and honest dialogues” as part of “Here’s The Thing.”
“Art Fraud” is a fictional true crime series focusing on the scandal and intrigue surrounding fine art corruption in New York City, which Thompson stated drew him in immediately.
Christian Toto, a movie critic and publisher of the conservative entertainment website HiT, stated, “It’s a sensible choice for him pragmatically and aesthetically.”
True crime is hugely popular, and the staged framework allows Baldwin to re-enter the public eye without attracting unwanted attention from his own guests.
“I think he’d get some tough questions,” Toto remarked, “but I think a Joe Rogan, if he were to do interviews, would get even tougher ones.”
Rogan’s own massively famous podcast has recently come under fire, with celebrities boycotting Spotify in protest of the platform’s failure to remove the comedian and UFC commentator over prior remarks and the beliefs of some of his guests.
Toto stated, “I think the broader issue with Alec Baldwin… is that if you look at his career and what he’s said and done, he should’ve been cancelled a long time ago.”
He is accused of hurling homophobic insults, squabbling with photographers, and berating journalists in the past. In a confrontation over a parking place in New York City, he allegedly assaulted a driver, and recordings suggest he called his then-11-year-old daughter a “little pig” in 2007.
True crime stories, according to Thompson, are what placed podcasting on the map, and they continue to be a large chunk of available content for which the public has an insatiable thirst. Even in the art world, there are already programs dedicated to genuine crime, strangely on a platform that does not display images.
The crew behind the already established and identically called “Art Crime Podcast” announced Tuesday, “We welcome all newbies to the fascinating history and ongoing intrigue of art crime.” “We hope that listeners mistakenly discover our podcast instead of Alec Baldwin’s and realize how much more entertaining we are.”
Baldwin has also dabbled in other endeavours, such as narrating an album dedicated to “the sounds of New York City” in support of the 92nd Street Y. Earlier this week, he shared a clip of the song on Instagram
On Thursday, the actor tweeted another video with the tagline “Everything is going to be alright” after the widower husband of the cinematographer slain in an on-set gun mishap involving Baldwin filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
According to court documents, Baldwin aimed a.45-caliber Old West-style handgun at Hutchins from only four feet away and toyed with the hammer, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza in the “Rust” shooting.
