Alec Baldwin

[Deleted]

kostgard said:

Actually, from everything I've ever heard, he IS a dickweed, but this would in no way excuse the other crazy parent if she did release this tape to help her own case. I mean nothing soothes the sting of a humiliating phone message smackdown from Dear Old Dad like sharing it with the world, right?

That's how I feel about releasing the tape. Sure, Kim may have done it to hurt Alec, but she's hurting Ireland in the process. When you're a kid her age and your parents are acting like a couple of shitheads, you are completely hurt and embarassed by them. Now everyone knows about it. The kids at school are probably going to give her shit about it. That is absolutely not what she needs right now and it was really shitty of Kim to do that in order to get back at Alec or hurt his career without considering the effect it would have on Ireland. She should have just turned it over to her lawyer and that's it.

That poor kid. Both Kim and Alec are crazy - Alec is crazy and angry, Kim is crazy and manipulative.

I agree. One of them needs to consider their child first. They both seem selfish, self-absorbed and childish. I think they both know how to push each others buttons and on some level enjoy doing it. I feel Ireland is but a pawn is some twisted game. I feel bad for her. I experienced an abusive upbringing too and it has a devastating affect on your life.

[december]

yossarian said:

I didn't know that there were pictures of Alec actually hitting Kim but, IIRC, in one of their many court battles Kim revealed some pics of her with a black eye which she said was down to Alec. And I, for one, believe her.

Thanks, are there goes all of my Baldwin love. That sure is a family of arseholes and fucked-upness isn't it?

[buckdutter]

lucypevensie said:

Wow. Did you come to that conclusion from listening to that one phone message? Just wow.

Yep. Just like the family law judge who temporarily barred him from having any contact with his child after she heard it. He stands to lose all contact with her permanently at the hearing next week.

You think maybe the judge will take the relationship as a whole into consideration before deciding that he and his daughter will lose contact with each other permanently? I sure hope so. What happens six months from now if her mother loses her temper with the child and yells unkind things? Should she then lose permanent contact, too? Again, wow.

The thought of a parent losing the right to see his/her child as the result of a verbal temper tantrum gives me goosebumps.

[Yossarian]

Lose the sarcasm now. You guys know the rules: keep the snark and virtriole for the celebrity in question and not for other posters and their opinions.

[scarlet]

buckdutter said:

The thought of a parent losing the right to see his/her child as the result of a verbal temper tantrum gives me goosebumps.

To me that was more than a temper tantrum. He was abusive to her. Should that one thing alone caused him to permanently lose contact? No, but he and Kim have been battling this forever, so odds are there are other things in the case history that will be looked at and reviewed.

[Deleted]

You think maybe the judge will take the relationship as a whole into consideration before deciding that he and his daughter will lose contact with each other permanently? I sure hope so.

I sure hope so, too. And that's exactly why I said he deserves to lose all visitation, because he, not Kim Basinger, is the parent on record with the temper and abuse problems. That's what I'm basing my opinion on.

When Ireland was a baby being brought home from the hospital, he went apeshit on some photographers sitting in a parked car. I remember seeing it on tape. He has gotten into public fisticuffs with other people on various occasions. He has been the subject of many reports of occurrences in which he lost his temper and threatened people. It would make sense that all of these conditions have factored into his struggle to get some sort of custody/visitation of his child over the years, at least in a family judge's decision making process. I'm sure Kim Basinger has made it as difficult for him as possible, but his reputation for surliness and bad temper has made him an easy and believable target for any accusations (true or false) she has made against him.

It would take a lot more than a verbal freak out for Alec Baldwin to lose all contact with his daughter permanently. That's just completely ridiculous. Yes, he lost his temper. Yes, it was extremely abusive and inappropriate. He sounded beyond angry and frustrated. However, other factors of this case will be considered.

Exactly. He's the "bad guy" in this scenario and the last thing he could afford was losing his temper on his daughter's voicemail and calling her names. Rightly or wrongly, if he wants contact with his daughter, he's the one who has to prove himself.

[Wol]

Not that this means anything really, and I think that phone message was inexcusable regardless of what brought it on, but I saw Alec and Ireland together about a year ago. They were with Chynna and Billy and their kids in Malibu (the minimall where Britney is always going to get her Starbucks fix). They looked pretty normal. Ireland looked happy and was playing with her little cousins - there's a fountain and kids always stick their hands in (Baby Wol included). I can't imagine that I saw the only nice day she's had with her father since her parents split up, so I'm going to assume that Alec is not always like this. Still an unforgivable phone message, and I'm still on the hate train, but I am somewhat comforted by that memory for Ireland's sake.

[marleigh]

lucypevensie said:

You think maybe the judge will take the relationship as a whole into consideration before deciding that he and his daughter will lose contact with each other permanently? I sure hope so.

I sure hope so, too. And that's exactly why I said he deserves to lose all visitation, because he, not Kim Basinger, is the parent on record with the temper and abuse problems. That's what I'm basing my opinion on.

According to Baldwin, Basinger is practicing parental alienation, which many child psychologists believe is a form of abuse. There are many examples on the record of her interfering with Baldwin's visitation of his child. I'm sure the judge will take that in consideration as well. Even if it did turn out that Basinger was intentionally trying to alienate Baldwin from his daughter, I would never recommend that she lose all her parental rights. Fortunately we don't live in a world as punitive as that.

I hope they all get therapy. Whether Kim likes it or not, Alec is Ireland's father, and as such has rights. He definitely needs parenting and anger management classes.

[JDub]

Wow. That message is real? I listened to it and immediately thought it wasn't him, but then I read that him or his rep released a statement about it. I feel so bad for Ireland, since both of her parents seem to be nutjobs. Bet she can't wait to turn 18.

[Deleted]

According to Baldwin, Basinger is practicing parental alienation, which many child psychologists believe is a form of abuse. There are many examples on the record of her interfering with Baldwin's visitation of his child. I'm sure the judge will take that in consideration as well.

I completely understand that point and agree with it. I've seen the family court system up close and been involved in cases where that very thing happened. However, severe verbal abuse and accusations of physical violence (which KB has lobbed at him) will trump that over charges of parental alienation any day of the week in a judge's eyes.

Regardless of what rights he should have, with that message, he dug his own hole and now he is going to have to be the one to work his way out of it. At this point, it doesn't matter what KB has done because he's the one who lost something today as a result of his actions. If KB wanted to further alienate Ireland from her father, he gave her exactly what she needed to continue to do so. And just because I say that doesn't mean that I think that KB has the moral high ground or is the better parent. Far from it.