Alec Baldwin 'quits public life,' bashes Hollywood in explosive 'New York' magazine essay : '30 Rock' actor admits 'I give up, America's f*cked'

Alec Baldwin just published an explosive (and rather lengthy) essay for New York magazine - and apparently, the "30 Rock" actor is officially "giving up."

The entire essay is rather intense, but here are some stand-out excerpts:

- "I've lived this for 30 years, [and] I'm done with it... I loathe and despise the media in a way I did not think possible... I'm aware that it's ironic that I'm making this case in the media - but this is the last time I'm going to talk about my personal life in an American publication ever again."

- "I haven't changed, but public life has... Am I a homophobe? Look, I work in show business. I am awash in gay people, as colleagues and as friends. I'm doing Rock of Ages one day, making out with Russell Brand. Soon after that, I'm advocating with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Cynthia Nixon for marriage equality. I'm officiating at a gay friend's wedding... I'm not a homophobic person at all. But this is how the world now sees me." 

- "Broadway has changed, by my lights. The TV networks, too. New York has changed. Even the U.S., which is so preposterously judgmental now. The heart, the arteries of the country are now clogged with hate. The fuel of American political life is hatred... And [it] is all about hate. It's Hate Incorporated. But the liberals have taken the bait and run in the same direction-and it's just as corrosive. MSNBC, in its own way, is as full of shit, as redundant and as superfluous, as Fox."

- "I think America's more f*cked up now than it's ever been. People are angry that in the game of musical chairs that is the U.S. economy, there are less seats at the table when the music stops. And at every recession, the music is stopping."

- "I probably have to move out of New York. I just can't live in New York anymore. Everything I hated about L.A. I'm beginning to crave. L.A. is a place where you live behind a gate, you get in a car, your interaction with the public is minimal."

- "It's good-bye to public life in the way that you try to communicate with an audience playfully like we're friends, beyond the work you are actually paid for... I want to go make a movie and be very present for that and give it everything I have, and after we're done, then the rest of the time is mine. I started out as an actor, where you seek to understand yourself using the words of great writers and collaborating with other creative people. Then I slid into show business, where you seek only an audience's approval, whether you deserve it or not. I think I want to go back to being an actor now. There's a way I could have done things differently. I know that. If I offended anyone along the way, I do apologize. But the solution for me now is: I've lived this for 30 years, I'm done with it."

Baldwin also manages to diss Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, and Shia LaBeouf throughout his rant. Check out the full essay here.

Do Mstars fans think Baldwin's finally lost it, or is he actually a pure genius?