Baldwin Emmys After Hacking Vetoed Joke

Baldwin Emmys After Hacking Vetoed Joke LOS ANGELES Leonard Nimoy in the last minute to Alec Baldwin in the Emmy Awards opening due to a flap over a joke about piracy News Corp. phone scandal. Alec Baldwin had saved the segment by playing a fictional president of the Academy of TV-based Jane Lynch. However, Baldwin called when Fox refused to let the joke referred to the hacking scandal involving British tabloid News of the World has closed. Both Fox and News of the World are owned by News Corp. Fox said the network believed it was inappropriate to make light of an issue being taken seriously by the company. The joke reportedly involved Baldwin on a telephone and saying, "Is that you, Rupert?" a reference to News Corp. boss Rupert Murdoch, suggesting he was listening in on the conversation. Baldwin was not at the Emmys because of a previous commitment to attend Tony Bennett's birthday party in New York. He tweeted that Fox killed the joke, "which sucks because I think it would have made them look better." He also tweeted: "If I were enmeshed in a scandal where I hack the phone of families of innocent crime victims purely 4 profit, I'd want that 2 go away, 2." Mark Burnett, who is producing the Emmys telecast, said, "There's nonstop drama, but everything is fine," when asked about the incident. Baldwin is scheduled to host "Saturday Night Live" next week. Director Don Roy King was asked if the NBC show would address Baldwin's joke being cut from the Emmys. "I hope so," said King. However, said it was not his calling, the issue is. "I am the director," he said. "I make sure that the shooting is in the air, the jokes are sold, but before that time, decisions are taken by others." AP Television Writer David Bauder in New York and Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney in Los Angeles contributed to this office.Baldwin Emmys After Hacking Vetoed Joke