Fox defends edit of phone-hacking joke

As the clock ticks down to the 5 pm start of the Emmycast, Fox execs are doing some behind the scenes damage control regarding the decision to yank a joke about the News Corp. phone hacking scandal by Alec Baldwin in the pre-taped opening skit. Fox emphasized that the decision to delete the line was made because the net didn't want to be seen as taking the scandal lightly. When Baldwin asked that he be deleted from the entire sketch, the net agreed out of courtesy. Net also stressed that the phone-hacking crack wasn't the only edit made in the skit, and that the decision was made by net execs, not at the higher News Corp. corporate level. Emmycast exec producer Mark Burnett has promised that the telecast will have no shortage of surprises. Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com

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