Baldwin Apologizes For Vicious Voicemail

Actor's Lawyer Wants Leak Investigated

(CBS/AP)  As Alec Baldwin's angry words to his daughter were being broadcast around the world, the 49-year-old actor explained himself Friday on his Web site.

"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," he wrote. "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."

Baldwin's legal battles with ex-wife Kim Basinger got uglier Thursday, when the angry voice message he left on their 11-year-old daughter's cell phone was leaked on the Web.

The two-minute tirade, filled with expletives, was obtained by TMZ.com and posted on its Web site.

Baldwin and Basinger have been engaged in bitter custody disputes over their daughter, Ireland, since the couple divorced in 2002.

"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," Baldwin wrote. "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 courtroom."

In the message, which the site said was recorded April 11, Baldwin is furious that Ireland did not answer his call at a pre-arranged time.

"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," Baldwin says. "You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone."

He goes on to say that he plans to fly from New York to Los Angeles "for the day just to straighten you out on this issue."

He tells Ireland, "You are a rude, thoughtless little pig."

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A spokeswoman for Basinger told The Associated Press that, "The voice mail speaks for itself." Attorneys for the actress did not return calls for comment.

Meanwhile, Baldwin's attorney, Vicki Greene, said she filed a court order Friday "to determine how the tape got leaked and to determine whether actions should be taken again Kim Basinger, or her attorneys, or Harvey Levin (who runs TMZ.com) and anybody else associated with the leaking of the tape and the violation of the court orders to keep the proceedings closed."

Greene told The Showbuzz Thursday that she believes the tape "had to come from Kim or Kim's lawyer."

"Whoever did that was not thinking of the child," Greene added.

Levin won't say how he got the voice mail recording, but he insists that Baldwin's daughter didn't mind that it was made public.

"There are lots of ways we could have gotten the tape. I will only say we got it legally and also, based on what I know, Ireland is OK with us putting it on the Web site," Levin told MSN on Friday.

The voice mail was part of the material sealed during a closed court proceeding Wednesday, Greene said.

When she learned that TMZ was planning to post the message, Greene said she contacted Levin and told him that he would be in violation of a court order if he posted it.

"He ignored my advice and decided to run with it anyway," she said.

Baldwin and Basinger, 53, were married in 1993. They have been involved in prolonged legal disputes over custody and other issues since she filed for divorce in 2001, which was granted in 2002. The couple's differences have been aired several times in public.

Basinger was charged with contempt of court in October for violating terms of a 2004 custody agreement. A motion by her lawyers to dismiss the charges was denied Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The next hearing on visitation issues is scheduled for May 4.

"He's a wonderful dad," Greene said. "It's been a difficult litigation."

[mzking2u]

Alec shouldn't have to apologize for anything -- didn't do a dang thing wrong, but should've followed through and flew in to remind her who was the parent and who is the child. You all are probably the same people that I see in the Department store when little Timmy is having a tantrum and cursing you out and your standing there looking like complete idiots with "Now Timmy, that's not nice", "Timmy, your going to go to time out" and Timmy is telling you to "F**k off" and "Shut Up" . . . it's all too funny. . .

[butch461-2009]

Anyone that has children knows your going to lose your temper with them,it goes with being a parent,I might add a good parent ,it means you care,and its part of being a child to drive your parents crazy at times,This wouldn't even be an issue if Alec wasn't a famous star,Bassinger's lawyer and the guy that got it to him both should be heavely find,for leaking it out,as far as I'm concerned,they're scum bags and they help give good lawyers a bad name,and she's not much better.

[rconross]

I agree with yoopermom. As parents, we all lose our cool once in awhile and yell at our kids, but we don't belittle them and certainly don't call them "rude, little pigs". This guy doesn't deserve the love or respect of his daughter. And...he continues to insist that he has a normal relationship with his daughter. I highly doubt that. And, as far as the mother, well, if she did release the tape, then shame on her to bring it out in the open like this. The only one who gets hurt here is the daughter which is the saddest thing of all.

[yoopermom]

" Can any of you parents say that you haven't called your children 'brats' or 'hellions'? :Can any of you parents say that you haven't called your children 'brats' or 'hellions'? "

Actually, I can say that I have never called my children brats or hellions or pigs...etc. I have also never told them that they "don't have the brains or decency of a human being". Its called being a parent. Kids will do many things to try to make you loose your temper; it doesn't give us as parents the right to go off on them like this. Discipline is one thing, belittling a child is another.

Have I yelled at my kids, of course, but the name calling will only damage their self-esteem and after hearing it enough they will believe what they are being told. What is Daddy dearest going to say next time he is mad at her%u2026Will she be called a b*tch or a sl*t then? At what point has he crossed the line for some of you?

I also agree that her mother only released the tapes to the media for her own agenda. She wants to look like mother of the year and have the world know that dad is a piece of cr*p. I think it should have been brought to the judge, but definitely not the media.

[lanaedawn]

I agree with gumlog3. Apparently he left the set of filming his tv show to call her. He did lose his temper but my parents lost their temper with me and my siblings plenty of times. Can any of you parents say that you haven't called your children 'brats' or 'hellions'?

I thought it funny that the tmz guy said that Ireland was 'ok with it being posted'. Since when does an 11 year old get a say in something like that? Ummm, she's a juvenile.

And for the person who said an 11 year old can't play parents against one another...you obviously haven't been around many 11 year olds. Even when its an amicable divorce its easy for a child to play devil's advocate...but especially when its a bitter divorce and the parents don't check with one another to verify information the child can really make that rift bigger.

One question how did the media get the tape? Before everyone jumps down Baldwin, divorce is very hard I am a mother of a child of divorce and it never ends the torment that the parent with the child puts the other parent through. We don't know how many times he has tired to call at a set time and get no answer or an answering machine. Yet he is the "bad guy" I don't think so. Before you throw rocks you really should make sure you don't live in a glass house. Can anyone write without the cuss words? It doesn't make you sound any better, and lets you get your point accross.

[charlemaine1]

You Sick_bad_man.

[booyaw_77]

That guys rich.. and thats the ONLY REASON.. why he matters. Not cuz he's smart.. uh-uh. And not because he's got something really really importnik to say. Nope.. He's just got a lotta money.. and its.. propped him up on a pedistal. And everybody's gotta listen.. wrong or right. They gotta listen..

Ya see, in the olden days people were more responsible. It was an embarssment to make your private lives public. It was a weakness.. But these people? They didn't come to politics, politics came to them. And now? Everybody's a crook.. except them. They're the actors and actresses.. they're the sideburns and high heels.. they're the it. They're the in-the-nose.. Everybody else don't matter.

[booyaw_77]

The new century? *clearing my throat*

The new century is gonna be all about this, ladies and gentleman. Rich people.. Rich people with nothing to do but make their lives.. their EXCUSE.. public. Ya ever wonder why psycho schizophrenics rule the oil world? Here's yer reason.. Just, watch and admire the hollywood movie stars. They're bored.. And our time is their time.

[booyaw_77]

There are people out there Eric.. dieing.

There are people out there Eric.. Real people.. suffering. Not for the leather sofa, but for a plate of food. For their lives..

There are people out there Eric.. doing real things. Things that matter. Things that are curable. Things that something can be done about..

Like kicking hollywood the hell outta politics.