Alec Baldwin

[margojata]

I'm actually shocked at how many people in other places (well, TWOP!) are talking about how they don't see the big deal in what he said. I still think it's horrifying, no matter what that child did to him. It's a different story when you're dealing with older kids, and all the bs they can put you through (like serious things, not refusing to take your phone calls).

I'll never forget the battle I had with my then 18 year old. Him: I'm 18, you can't tell me what to do.". Me: Umm, YES, as long as you live here I will tell you exactly what you can and will do since I finance your very survival!". It ain't pretty being a parent, but the stuff this guy said is soo never appropriate for an 11 year old (and he's not even quite sure of that - Ireland was born in October, so it's not like there's a birthday about to roll around and he's confused).

[Deleted]

Only problem I have with this is that is none of our business and should never have been given to the press. They seem to have all kinds of problems in that family and if necessary they should be seeing psychologists and settling their differences with mediators or judges. It really doesn't help to air their dirty laundry. Evidently, his ex-wife doesn't agree. Somethings should be kept private and settled privately as well. That doesn't excuse his behavior but I don't think I needed to be a party to it either. I've had some pretty good arguments with my son in his growing up years and I'm sure taken out of context it would sound horrible to others. Yet, he grew up fine and we are close and no damage done.

To give you an idea how weird people are, last night Laura Ingraham had the audacity to bad mouth all liberals and democrats because he chewed out his daughter. There is always someone ready to pounce on a bad situation and use it to serve their own purpose.

[Deleted]

ireneb said:

Why on earth would you assume the daughter is the problem? Long before she was born, Mr. Baldwin was famous for his anger issues.

Bottom line: he's an extremely large, imposing, physically intimidating man, she's a little girl of "12 or 11", as her devoted father put it(she's 11)--and he twice made threats that sounded an AWFUL lot like he was going to BEAT her ass the very next time he saw her: "I. am. going. to. STRAIGHTEN your ASS OUT!!" as he put it.
You girls who are admitting that you've had meltdown with your sons--listen, that's physically different. Or a mom screaming at a daughter. EVERYone, mostly, has horrible moments. But does anyone seriously think this is some kind of isolated incident? Come on! He goes on and on and ON--because--well, let's see, did she--

-stand him up for an expensive dinner with others, keeping everyone waiting?
-was a no-show for a joint appearance on a national TV interview(Alec had just taped Letterman when he phoned his rant)?
-post nude pics of him on the internet?
-stole her dad's coke stash?

No, she didn't answer her phone but had it set to voicemai, missing a court-appointed calll. What a "vile, rotten little PIG" indeed.

I'd say he richly deserved having this broadcast. Poor Ireland. No amount of "spoiling" warrants this treatment.

Why not assume she's the problem? I don't know the extinuating circumstances of the situation and neither do you. Everybody's opinion on this board is an assumption based on what we've seen and heard from the media. As the mother of 3 kids I choose to give him the benefit of the doubt. Does Alec Baldwin have a hot temper and loud big mouth? Yes, he does.. however, that does not translate to bad parent. I think some people are just too damn sensitive these days. Kids are not some kind of jigsaw puzzle that are just going to fall apart and need all kinds of psychiatric help just because they get yelled at sometimes when they screw up (and I'm not talking about situations where a child is verbally abused on a constant basis). One of the reasons we have all of these drug crazy juvenile deliquents running amok in our society now is because nobody ever "set them straight" when they were young enough where it could have made a difference. Like I said before, I do not approve of him calling the child stupid, but other than that I have no problem with him letting her know that her little 11 year old ass does not run the show.

[timekeeper]

Babyann, you make a few excellent point. I have to agree that too many parents allow their children to run all over them and worse. I have friends whose kids are disrespectful, spoiled and probably wouldn't have my address anymore if I were their mother. None of us are privy to all that has gone on over the years. It sounds as though his rage came after a series of events of disrespect occurred and built up over time. While the daughter sounds like she may indeed be a spoiled brat who respects her mother and (probably) not her father, I'm sure you agree he definitely has anger management issues that need to be dealt with.

[cocobean]

Why on earth would you assume the daughter is the problem? Long before she was born, Mr. Baldwin was famous for his anger issues.

ITA. Whether she is a "brat" or spoiled or whatever...that's not the issue. It's up to the parents to behave like adults who have their child's best interests in mind. Neither Kim nor Alec seem very good at remembering that.

She has been used as a pawn in their sick tug of war for a long time. I'm sure she is having a miserable enough childhood without being blamed for her parents complete inability to behave like adults.

[Deleted]

I don't know the extinuating circumstances of the situation and neither do you.

Of course we don't, but we do know that Alec Baldwin has a history of being a bad-tempered, verbally abusive asshole. He's behaved this way with his wife, co-workers, random traffic cops doing their jobs, etc... Is everyone else lying but him? I don't think so. Apply Occam's Razor. His history speaks for itself.

I think there's a big difference between people on this board who have admitted to having temporarily lost it and have gone off on their kids who are being bratty on occasion and Alec Baldwin. I'm willing to bet that most don't also berate and verbally bully their co-workers, wives, husbands, random traffic cops. etc... Therein lies the difference.

I wouldn't be too quick to judge Kim either if she did indeed leak the tape. She may not be perfect, but IMO she's no Alec Baldwin. If as history shows, he's a jerk who has been shown to be verbally abusive to people who come into contact him on a regular basis, if I were a mother, I'd play dirty or do whatever it takes to keep my kid from being anywhere near someone like that. This is not an isolated incident IMO. One just has to look at his history to see that he irrationally lashes out at people on a regular basis.

That phone call is unbelievable. I agree with those who he say he sounds like an angry lover. Creepy.

[Oxynia]

You guys are making this personal to other people on the board again, bitching about who here knows what and why they should think that way. This is your final warning. If it happens again, the thread will be locked indefinitely and accounts will be terminated. For the last time, knock it off or face the consequences!

[shiningstah]

ITA. Whether she is a "brat" or spoiled or whatever...that's not the issue. It's up to the parents to behave like adults who have their child's best interests in mind. Neither Kim nor Alec seem very good at remembering that.

She has been used as a pawn in their sick tug of war for a long time. I'm sure she is having a miserable enough childhood without being blamed for her parents complete inability to behave like adults.

I hate being an Alec apologist and I have no idea what their custody arrangement is but from the little I've hears and seen, that kid barely spends time with her dad. It's very difficult to assert any kind of parental authority when you don't even get to be with your kid, and not even get to speak to him on the phone.
Maybe I'm wrong but it seems she spends very little time with him because of her mother. It seems to me that if anyone is using her as a pawn, it's Kim.
So, I wouldn't be surprised if this is really the implosion that came after years of Kim doing everything in her power to keep his child away from him.

Naturally, I don't know the true details of this mess but I don't want to automatically assume he's the monster in all of this.
Intuition tells me that Kim is more to blame and she will pay a serious price 10 years from now for what she's doing but who knows?

[memememe76]

Doesn't Alec live n New York and Ireland livesin LA? Does Alec have to live in New York? I believe 30 Rock is filmed there (it feels like it is, anyway), but all parents make sacrifices for their children. So, this is Alec's choice to be as far away from Ireland as he is.

And whether Ireland is a "brat" or not, it's not just Kim's fault. Alec has to shoulder the blame for his child's behaviour too.

[ivy]

memememe76 said:

Doesn't Alec live n New York and Ireland livesin LA? Does Alec have to live in New York?

This is another thing Kim n' Alec have been fighting about right from the start. Kim says Alec ought to move to L.A. and Alec says Kim ought to move to New York. Honestly, I don't think there's anything these two haven't fought over. It really is ridiculous.