Alec Baldwin

[footballerswife]

underjoyed said:

She's 12 years old. What's his excuse?

Exactly.

This whole thing just makes me feel squicky partly because it's similar to experiences I had at about the same age as Ireland. My mother had a bad habit of lashing out at me verbally, and though I realize looking back that it wasn't really about me (and my mom and I have a great relationship now, BTW), it still hurt like hell at the time. I'm pretty sure that a lot of self-esteem issues that I have now stem from things said to me as a kid. I can't even explain how worthless I would feel after one of her tirades. Whether Alec is frustrated by things Kim has done or not, it's really despicable for him to take it out on his daughter.

diane63 said:

Alec is hurt because his daughter is shutting him out of her life, due to the influences of her mom. 12 years old is old enough to know what's right and wrong, and to turn her phone off knowing he was going to call? That's just being a pig brat.

You're talking about a child here. She shouldn't be put in the middle of this, and 12 years old isn't old enough to realize that she isn't the cause of Alec's tirade or her mother's craziness or whatever else is going on. Besides, you don't know the whole story-- if she had shut off her phone, maybe it was because she's had incidents like this with Alec before and was trying to avoid his verbal abuse.

Hell, it's hard enough to be a 12-year-old girl to begin with. Having shit like this thrown on top of it is just horrible. I feel so bad for that little girl.

And I honestly feel he used the term 'pig' in a different context than is being considered. " Pig: a person of piglike character, behavior, or habits, greedy, selfish, or filthy. " I see habits, greedy and selfish in that arguement. Then again, I see what I chose to see on team Alec.

It doesn't matter what he meant by "pig." A 12-year-old girl isn't going to think she's just being called greedy. She's going to hear "fat, worthless, disgusting slob."

[MandySpark]

I'm surprised people are making excuses for him. No matter the situation, no matter whether the words were really intended to hurt someone else besides the person they were said to, no grown man, especially a FATHER, should EVER talk to a child that way. I wouldn't feel safe if my father spoke to me, as an adult, that way. My father once yelled at me to stop being a brat when I was acting snotty to my mother one day and that was enough to cause me to lock myself in my room for awhile.

Screw adopting kids all over the world, someone needs to start adopting these poor Hollywood babies like Ireland and the Federline boys and get them away from their crazy parents and into some sort of normalcy.

[snarkblossom]

I had an alcoholic dad with anger issues who used to go off on me verbally. So hearing this made me cringe. Even decades later everything he said hurt and I took it to heart, even though now as an adult I could put the situations into context and understand what his issues were. But as a kid, you don't get to figure that out. You just hurt and it wounds you. It scars you. It affects your ability to have relationships with other men that involve trust. So I say, I don't care how many excuses there are for his behavior, I don't care who else is doing it, it was wrong. No parent should ever talk to a kid that way.

[littleblacksheep]

I have to agree with those who think that he was completely out of line. I don't believe there is ever any excuse for a parent to use any kind of derogatory language towards their children. One can call out behaviour they don't agree with, but the is no need to call the child names. He's her Father for chrissakes, he should behave like one. He is such a d*ck. If he is comfortable using that kind of language around her I pity her for being forced to hang out with him. If the content of that message was intended for Kim to hear and not for Ireland, then leave the message on Kim's phone.

[Auroranorth]

underjoyed said:

margojata said:

Well, I can't think of a reason why you'd ever talk that way to a child. Yes, we get frustrated as parents, but we are the adults.

Well, precisely. As someone pointed out earlier, kids can be annoying and obnoxious and uncooperative and unreasonable and bratty and just generally behave in ways that no one would tolerate from an adult. Because...they're not adults; they're kids. She's 12 years old. What's his excuse?

Exactly. That's what kids do. I can't feel sympathetic here towards a man who rants in that fashion at his child. If this is his attitude when she's 11, what happens when she's a teenager?

I don't for one second, believe that Kim doesn't screen her daughter's phone messages. I think Alec knew that and was actually talking to Kim while pretending he was talking to Ireland. The fact that she leaked it to the media is enough proof for me that she would do anything to paint Alec as a heathen. It wouldn't take much digging to see all the nasty, evil things she has accused Alec of doing in the past in regards to this issue.

Keep in mind that we don't actually know who leaked the tape. It could have been a third party, it could have been her OR him. And the fact that, if your theory is true, he was still verbally abusive and insulting to his daughter, who would have heard this message and been badly hurt by it.

Alec is hurt because his daughter is shutting him out of her life, due to the influences of her mom. 12 years old is old enough to know what's right and wrong, and to turn her phone off knowing he was going to call? That's just being a pig brat.

Would you want to speak to someone who screams obscenities at you and rages like a jealous lover? Especially if he's your dad? I sure wouldn't. Maybe she didn't want to talk to him because she knew he was going to tantrum at her.

The only side I'm on is Ireland's, personally.

[Deleted]

The only side I'm on is Ireland's, personally.

I am in total agreeance with that. Both Kim and Alec are in the wrong in this situation IMO. Kim for possibly leaking the voice mail through a third party in order to not only paint her ex in a bad light, but to also keep with the judge's order that the case is sealed and not get her hands dirty. Alec for lashing out at his child in ways (that many of you have suggested) that he cannot lash out at Kim because of the legal proceedings.

[Deleted]

Yep, Team Ireland all the way. Poor kid. The way he kept yelling he would straighten her out scared me. And calling your 11-year-old daughter names? Unbelievable. And whoever leaked that tape made sure that poor Ireland will never be allowed to forget this. Not that she will anyway, but strangers and all kinds of people will ask her about it because it's out there.

[Mutagen]

I know when I was a teenager I antagonized my parents a lot, sometimes to the point of my mom slapping me in frustration (once, lightly). But they never called me the kind of hateful, nasty, deeply wounding names Baldwin is throwing around on that message. I think I prefer the slapping. Words like that would echo in my mind forever.

Poor Ireland! If she grows up to be even halfway normal, it will be a testament to her personal strength.

[Deleted]

snarkblossom said:

I had an alcoholic dad with anger issues who used to go off on me verbally. So hearing this made me cringe. Even decades later everything he said hurt and I took it to heart, even though now as an adult I could put the situations into context and understand what his issues were. But as a kid, you don't get to figure that out. You just hurt and it wounds you. It scars you. It affects your ability to have relationships with other men that involve trust. So I say, I don't care how many excuses there are for his behavior, I don't care who else is doing it, it was wrong. No parent should ever talk to a kid that way.

I agree with every word. Same situation with the alcoholic father who'd go off the handle and not even care who he was ranting at ( almost lost a limb at one point). And, sure enough, to this day if a guy so much as raises his voice I feel like pulling the base-ball bat out of the closet and going into warrior mode. I suppose I should be grateful that I didn't go down the other path and become submissive, rather than warrior-like. But, anyhow, that girl's going to grow up very, very angry. It sounds like a lot of people here empathize with the kid out of personal experience. There's no excuse to treat a kid like that.

[eveschmeve]

I think it's a testament to how completely awesome Alec Baldwin is that even this doesn't greatly diminish my love for him. (And please, no flames for that.)

It was a horrible thing to listen to... but this Alec and Kim thing is so much larger than just one voicemail. Kim was arraigned in October for contempt of court because she continually violated their custody arrangement. Her attorney's motion to drop those charges was denied in court on Wednesday. I don't think it's a coincidence that this tape was released a day later. They're both screwed up.