Alec Baldwin apologized via his website on Friday for his now infamous voice mail message to his 11-year old-daughter, Ireland, insisting that their relationship is "normal," and blaming ex-wife Kim Basinger for his public humiliation.
"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... I have endured a great deal over the last several years in my custody
litigation. Everyone who knows me privately knows that certain people
will go to any lengths to embarrass me and to disrupt my relationship
with my daughter."
Alec's lawyer asked the L.A. Superior Court to investigate the source of the leaked message on Friday, and told People "the tape had to have come from [Kim Basinger]... the only parent with custody, possession and control of the minor child's telephone voice mail message... Neither we or the court had a copy, so where else could it have come from? This is a direct violation of a court's order to keep items sealed, [and] ultimately damaging to the child."
Alec went on to say that in a high profile custody case like his, "opponents attempt to take a picture of you on your worst day and insist that this is who you are as a person... 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."
So there you have it. It's not really an apology, as much as it is a "fuck you" to his ex-wife, for exposing him as the verbally abusive man she has always claimed he is. There is little room to doubt that it was indeed Kim who leaked the tape, and it would not be the first time she has defied a court order to do what she deemed necessary to protect her daughter. While I don't necessarily agree with her actions, I must say that if I truly thought my child was in danger of being abused, I'd do whatever I could to keep her out of a potentially dangerous situation, too.
And no, this incident is not necessarily indicative of the kind of man, or father, that Alec Baldwin is. And yes, all parents are entitled to be royally pissed off at their kids from time to time. But if this tape hadn't been made public, and Alec wasn't forced to publicly acknowledge his meltdown, how much further might it have gone? Must we wait until verbal abuse escalates to physical abuse before taking it seriously? This guy is blaming his ex, his kid, his feeling of alienation... but taking none of the blame for this tirade for himself. He seems more concerned about the tape being leaked, "because of what it does to the child", than he does about the disgusting words on the tape itself.
At the very least, I hope this incident forces Mr. Baldwin to take a good, hard look at himself, and take at least some responsibility for his own outrageous behavior. And I hope he gets the help he needs to become the father he claims his ex-wife refuses to let him be - because everyone deserves a second chance. But when a child is concerned, I think it's only fair to insist that that second chance be earned, not given.
