Parenting

Alec Baldwin NOT Father Of The Year!

Alec Baldwin has been banned by a court from seeing his 11-year-old daughter, Ireland, after unleashing a string of insults at her on the telephone.

The actor was furious when Ireland – who lives with her mother Kim Basinger in Los Angeles – did not answer the phone when she knew he was due to call from New York

During the call, recorded on the girl’s answering machine, Baldwin, 49, ranted: “You are a rude, thoughtless little pig. You don’t have the brains or the decency as a human being. “I don’t give a damn that you’re 12 years old, or 11 years old, or that you’re a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn’t care about what you do as far as I’m concerned.

“Once again I have made an ass of myself trying to get to a phone. You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone.”

He then threatened to fly to LA “for the day, just to straighten you out on this issue”.

Baldwin, calling on April 11 at 10.30am New York time (7.30am in California), told Ireland he drops everything when it is time for his scheduled phone calls and expects her to do the same.

He was due to see Ireland yesterday and before hanging up, warned her: “You’d better be ready Friday the 20th to meet with me.”

But on Wednesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Maren Nelson heard the tape and temporarily suspended Baldwin’s visitation rights. She could make the ban permanent next month.

Baldwin, star of The Good Shepherd, and Basinger, 53, who won an Oscar for the 1997 film L.A. Confidential, divorced in 2002 and have been battling over Ireland for years.

The tape was obtained by entertainment website TMZ. The Baldwin camp claimed it was leaked by Basinger and that the actor had apologised to Ireland for his rant.

Alec posted this statement on his site:

Thank you to everyone who has posted messages of suppport and understanding. Naturally, it is not best for a parent to lose their temper with their child. Everyone who knows me privately knows that I have endured a great deal over the last several years in my custody litigation. Everyone who knows me privately knows that certain people will go to any lengths to embarass me and to disrupt my relationship with my daughter.

In such public cases, your opponents attempt to take a picture of you on your worst day and insist that this is who you are as a person. Outside the doors of divorce court, I have friends, I have respect from people I work with and I have a normal relationship with my daughter. All of that is threatened whenever one enters a court room.

Although I have been told by numerous people not to worry too much, as all parents lose their patience with their kids, I am most saddened that this was released to the media because of what it does to a child. I’m sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child. I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now. You have to go through this to understand. ( Although I hope you never do.) I am sorry for what happened. But I am equally sorry that a court order was violated, which had deliberately been put under seal in this case.

Once my book is published, I’m sure more people will understand the incredible strains created by parental alienation.

In the meantime, I’m sorry to anyone who’s taken offense from this episode.

Here is the phone call…

About the author

Lisa Arneill

Founder of Growing Your Baby and World Traveled Family. Canadian mom of 2 boys, photo addict, lover of bulldogs, and museumgoer. Always looking for our next vacation spot!

1 Comment

  • Words really do have power… what a terrible story. I’m not surprised at how quickly the press jumped on this today… Clearly the child’s best interest is not at the forefront of her parents’ minds. Here’s hoping they can learn from this.

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