Michael Stipe Confronts Alec Baldwin Over “SNL” Trump Impression: Listen

Michael Stipe was the guest on today’s episode of “Here’s the Thing,” Alec Baldwin’s talk show on WNYC. Since R.E.M.’s breakup in 2011, Stipe has kept a relatively low public profile, and given few interviews. But he sat down with Baldwin for an in-depth, 40-minute talk about his life and career, touching on everything from his early days as a music fan, through his years with R.E.M., to his current life out of the spotlight. Listen to the full talk below.

Stipe said that while he “is not prepared nor ready to be a pop star again,” he has been “dabbling” in music. He revealed that he has produced and co-written the new Fischerspooner album, which he says is due out next spring. He also said he is currently working on a book of photography.

While discussing politics and the current election, Stipe, an outspoken Bernie Sanders supporter, confronted Baldwin over his impression of Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.” Stipe blamed the media for Trump’s rise, before asking Baldwin, “What does it feel like from inside? What does it feel like playing that character? It’s satire, it’s brilliantly done, but it’s still adding to the push of– Warhol said, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. How have we created this monster?”

Baldwin responded, “When I was approached by Lorne, who is a friend of mine, to do it, my first impulse was ‘no.’ Because in order to do that effectively, you need to have at least some appreciation of the person.” He continued, “I have had a wave of people… it’s kind of unsettling to me actually how many people come up to me all day long and they thank me because they needed something to laugh about. They needed a release.”

Stipe also revealed that Prince “always hated me for” the fact that R.E.M. owned their masters and he didn’t. And he discussed how he was offered Kevin Spacey’s killer role in David Fincher’s 1995 film Se7en, but had to turn it down because it conflicted with an R.E.M. tour.

Baldwin also played a clip from his 2013 discussion with Thom Yorke, in which Yorke talked about Stipe being an inspiration. 

Read “An Oral History of R.E.M.’s Out of Time” on the Pitch.  

Watch a clip from REMTV, via Pitchfork.tv:

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