News Corp. cut phone-hacking scandal joke from a segment scheduled for Sept. 18’s Emmy awards, Entertainment Weekly reported. The joke, pre-taped by actor Alec Baldwin for the Emmys — which was aired by News Corp-owned Fox — was edited out of the joke because “it was in poor taste to make light of the serious allegations surrounding the phone-hacking scandal,” Entertainment Weekly reported.
Fox denied that the joke was edited out to avoid calling out News Corp, according to Entertainment Weekly. Baldwin tweeted about the joke being removed stating “I understand News Corp killing that joke” and that “Fox did kill my NewsCorp hacking joke. Which sucks bc I think it would have made them look better. A little.” Either way, Baldwin’s segment was re-taped by another actor.