Alec Baldwin admitted that he became suicidal after his ex-wife Kim Basinger's lawyer Harvey Levin posted Baldwin's infamous belligerent voice mail to his daughter, Ireland, on TMZ.The star of NBC's 30 Rock chronicles the events surrounding the voice mail, as well as his bitter custody battle with Basinger for the last six years in his new book, A Promise to Ourselves, says The New York Daily News .The book does not bash Basinger as much as it does Levin. Baldwin writes that his rage in the voice mail was not directed at his daughter, but more at the situation. Baldwin had been trying to reach his daughter but "she was off for spring break with her mother and her phone was turned off for 10 consecutive days... This had gone on for years now and... when the beep came, I snapped."As for Levin's role, Baldwin says, "[Levin] seemed to be that breed of tabloid creature that realized an almost sexual level of pleasure from ruining other people's lives." After the tape was released Baldwi...
read more
On Friday, for the first time since Alec Baldwin's controversial answering-machine message for his daughter came to light, attorneys for the actor and his ex-wife Kim Basinger will appear in court to address ongoing issues in the couple's heated custody dispute, the AP reports. Basinger stands accused of failing to heed court orders in the case, and faces 12 misdemeanor counts of contempt. If convicted of all of them, she could be eyeing up to 60 days in the clink and a $12,000 (shoe money) fine.A separate hearing is slated for June 5 to discuss the tape and determine if its disclosure violated a court order to keep the proceedings confidential.
read more
Second- and third-hand accounts, be gone. Alec Baldwin's pre-taped appearance on The View unspooled Friday, and here is what he said about:The message he left for his daughter: "There's nothing wrong with being frustrated or angry about something. I took it out on the wrong person because I'm unable, under the current dynamic, to address the other person," meaning ex-wife Kim Basinger.Why he was frustrated: After Basinger neglected on three occasions to cede custody of their daughter, Ireland, when she went to work on projects, "We pressed a contempt charge, because... we had no other outlet for enforcement. Finally they said, 'We will obey the order' [and] I was given my daughter. I had two blissful weeks.... The mother comes home and the phone gets turned off and I don't speak to the child again for 10 days."The "pig" word: "I've had a lot of people say to me that if all of us were to lose our custody rights because you said something inappropriate, we would have a parentless soci...
read more
On Tuesday's Larry King Live, Dr. Phil explored the point of view of the child involved in a heated custody case such as the one Alec Baldwin is currently fighting with Kim Basinger — and ultimately offered his counseling services to the highly combatant exes. Now he's had that offer accepted — by at least one of them. Not long after the program aired, Baldwin (who likely had tuned in because his brother Stephen was also a guest) reached out to Dr. Phil, and engaged in a long first talk with the iconic psychologist, TV Guide has learned. According to Dr. Phil, Baldwin insisted that “he recognized the inappropriate nature of his comments to his daughter, and using her as the misguided target for his frustrations. One of his fears is that people, including the court, would have the misconception that this characterizes his persona as a father.”Baldwin also told Dr. Phil that he is "completely and totally committed to continuing his fight to have access to a full...
read more
In a pre-taped appearance airing on Friday's installment of The View, bad/sad dad Alec Baldwin stammers his way through an on-air apology to his daughter, Ireland, and, in one rambling instance, expresses a desire to be released from NBC's 30 Rock, TV's Extra reports. UPDATE: In response, an NBC rep says, "Alec Baldwin remains an important part of 30 Rock. We look forward to having him continue his role in the show."Still, Baldwin even talking about ankling the show that remade him a household name (and earned him critical kudos) is perhaps one sign of how hard his heated custody battle with ex-wife Kim Basinger has hit him. As brother William Baldwin tells Thursday's Extra, "This is a tough thing to have played out in the tabloid media, the public. I know that [Ireland] has a great relationship with her dad. I know that she loves her dad very much. I know that she wishes this would end."In light of what has happened, will you continue to watch 30 Rock? Vote here. Also check out our...
read more
