Was actor Alec Baldwin fired from "Saturday Night Live" following his involvement in an accidental shooting on the set of the Western film "Rust"? No, that's not true: The claim originated on a satire website. Plus, Baldwin was never a regular cast member on the show and has not made an appearance on it since 2020.
The claim originated in an article posted on Potatriots Unite in October 2021 titled "Alec Baldwin Fired From SNL: 'He's a Huge Liability'" (archived here), which opened:
This just in from the exclusive news desk of reporter Flagg Eagleton: Saturday Night Live has fired Alec Baldwin, calling him a 'huge liability.'
The move comes just days after Baldwin shot and killed a woman on the set of his movie, making him guilty of manslaughter for his sad portrayal of Trump and his leftist views.
Users on social media saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Alec Baldwin Fired From SNL: 'He's a Huge Liability'
Flagg Eagleton has the exclusive report.
The site is part of the "America's Last Line of Defense" network of satire websites run by self-professed liberal troll Christopher Blair from Maine along with a loose confederation of friends and allies. He runs several websites and Facebook pages with visible satire disclaimers everywhere. They mostly publish made-up stories with headlines specifically created to trigger Republicans, conservatives and evangelical Christians into angrily sharing or commenting on the story on Facebook without actually reading the full article, exposing them to mockery and ridicule by fans of the sites and pages.
Every site in the network has an about page that reads (in part):
About Satire
Before you complain and decide satire is synonymous with "comedy":sat·ire
ˈsaˌtī(ə)r
noun
The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined. Any similarities between this site's pure fantasy and actual people, places, and events are purely coincidental and all images should be considered altered and satirical. See above if you're still having an issue with that satire thing.
Articles from Blair's sites frequently get copied by "real" fake news sites who omit the satire disclaimer and other hints the stories are fake. One of the most persistent networks of such sites is run by a man from Pakistan named Kashif Shahzad Khokhar (aka "DashiKashi") who has spammed hundreds of such stolen stories into conservative and right-wing Facebook pages in order to profit from the ad revenue.
When fact checkers point this out to the people liking and sharing these copycat stories some of them get mad at the fact checkers instead of directing their anger at the foreign spammers or the liberal satire writers. Others send a polite "thank you" note, which is much appreciated.
Additionally, although Baldwin has hosted Saturday Night Live more than any other guest and has made several appearances as a guest actor, including to portray former President Donald Trump, Baldwin was never a regular cast member of the show. A list of the show's cast members can be found here. Baldwin's last appearance on SNL was November 7, 2020, during which he impersonated Trump again.
Lead Stories also looked through Google search results of the phrases "alec baldwin snl 'he's a huge liability'" and "alec baldwin fired snl" to determine if there was any reliable source making the same claim. None of the results were relevant or trustworthy.
More Lead Stories debunks about claims related to the the accidental shooting on the set of "Rust" can be found here.
