Strollerderby : ireland baldwin

Alec Baldwin's Love Letter to His Daughter

Madeline Holler — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:31:00 GMT

I flipped right to Caitlin Flanagan's "The Passion of Alec Baldwin" article in The Atlantic's May issue, hoping to read a little dish about the actor's famously leaked voicemail rant in which he calls his daughter "a rude, thoughtless little pig" and also to understand why Flanagan calls Baldwin's memoir, A Promise to Ourselves, a love letter to his daughter.

But the book doesn't dwell on the fun/crazy details of the episode, and so Flanagan's article can't either. However, in analyzing Baldwin, his divorce and his relationship with daughter Ireland, we get a little fun/crazy from Flanagan herself.

The first sign that we're going to plunge into deep and creepy psycho-analysis is her take on the famously leaked voicemail, which Baldwin left in a rage on his daughter's cell phone.

Flanagan breaks down the rant, concluding that, since Ireland is slender, the term "pig" comes off as "a particularly feminine kind of repulsiveness" ... "almost [a] sexual thing for a man to call his daughter."

Ew? But OK ... those crazy Basinger-Baldwins!

It's not just the Baldwins, though, it's us, it's Everyman -- every man who has a daughter, apparently. Flanagan writes of Baldwin's relationship with his daughter Ireland as a stand-in for all father-daughter relationships, which she defines as romantic. It just gets creepy.

From The Atlantic:

"A father-daughter relationship is a kind of romance ... one kept well in check by a variety of forces, not least of them the sexual flattening that prolonged domesticity does to all potentially erotic relationships. Dad doesn't get too excited by the sight of Mom in her shimmy anymore, for the same reason Buddy's never taken a hankering to Sissy: they've seen too much. It's not community censure that has kept incest in check all these centuries; it's stomach flu.

Furthermore, daughters are some kind of incarnation of the hot, sexy mama Daddy married in the first place. Daughters might as well be the sports car of a midlife crisis.

"In his daughter a father discovers a person whose very bloodline ensures that she will be charming to him: at the precise moment that his wife is fading into middle age, her beauty resurges in the daughter—there’s that unlined face you fell in love with so long ago!"

So things get complicated for daughters when their parents divorce, Flanagan argues. Ireland's (and every girl's whose parents are divorced?) real suffering comes in having "beguiled this powerful man" in a way her beautiful mother couldn't. Flanagan argues this not only makes Baldwin's daughter feel bad, it has also left her with no way to test the waters of romance without hurting her mother.

"Nor can she exalt in herself—as girls are wont to do—as the product of an epic love, because by now she has become the opposite: the animating force of a great enmity, the only reason these feuding adults are forced to contend with one another. And now, as she casts around in her girlish way for a model on which to shape her own dream of marriage and enduring love, she must look elsewhere."

Flanagan had a better model, she wants to say, however flawed it may have been. Her parents, though long since face-lined and unappealing in shimmies, honor the memory of a romantic flame with a yearly bottle of expensive perfume and periodic mention of handsomeness. Flanagan could apparently test the waters of romance, guilt-free (was the trip with her father to pick up perfume a date?). Does she also get expensive perfume for her birthday from her new daddy, uh, husband?

Flanagan has two sons, which I feel is fair to note because I have to wonder if she'd be so sure of the Baldwin-Basinger analysis if she had a daughter. Though she seems sure of her father-daughter relationship, so maybe this piece is less a love letter from Baldwin than a love letter to Mr. Flanagan, her father. In any case, as the mother of daughters -- and as a daughter myself -- Flanagan's Freudian take on "daddy's little girl" as a universal makes me want to rock myself in the corner.

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Image: The Atlantic

Alec Baldwin Just Wont Quit, Screams at Dora

Rachael Brownell (Redsy) — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:10:00 GMT

Now Alec Baldwin is royally pissed at Dora. Yelling at your daughter on voicemail? That I can understand. Sure, she's only 11, but she should really be more considerate. Parental alienation is no laughing matter.

But yelling at beloved Dora the Explorer? Now I fear Baldwin has gone too far.

[via Daddy Types]

Alec Baldwin to Publicly Apologize to His Daughter Today

Stefania Pomponi Butler (CityMama) — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:02:00 GMT

By the time you read this—depending on where you live—Alec Baldwin may or may not have walked the gauntlet on the View to apologize to his daughter for calling her "a pig."

Baldwin and his PR team have been working at carefully coordinated public acts of self-flagellation which began when he apologized for being an ass on his website and left his guest book wide open for people to concur. Then we moved on to his consultation with Dr. Phil which was "far-reaching." Oh, and by the way, Dr. Phil was allowed to talk about it with Larry King.

Next, Alec symbolically threw himself on the sword asking NBC to cut him from 30 Rock, saying, "he didn't care if he never acted again." He just wants to work for alienated parents' rights forever and ever. NBC, of course, said, "See this piece of paper? This is your contract. We own you for another year, dude."

So what's left? The ultimate walk of shame: having to appear contrite on the View in front of short-timer Rosie O' Donnell and her nemesis Elisabeth Hasselbeck. Actually, that might be penance enough.

Alec, you're one shrewd mofo. I give you that... and I'll be watching.

Kim Basinger: "I Didn't Leak The Voicemail Tape"

Alisyn — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 19:38:00 GMT

Through her representative, Kim Basinger has denied leaking the infamous voicemail heard 'round the world to the media.

Annette Wolf told OK! Magazine that her client (Kim), did not share the private message with the press, but did say that "Everybody is always asking why this custody battle has been going on for so many years... The issue is not about Kim or the alleged alienation that Alec constantly refers to, it is about his ongoing aggressive behavior. Kim’s sincerest wish is for him to finally address his unstable and irrational behavior so he, at some point, can potentially create a relationship with his daughter. Until then, Kim will continue to protect and safeguard her child’s well-being as any parent would.”

Part of that safeguarding included hiring a security team for Ireland, so that she may continue to live her life as she is accustomed to doing, without being approached by paparazzi or deranged fans. Poor little thing... the shelf life of anonymity is practically non-existent for the kid of two Hollywood stars. Though Ireland had a pretty good run, racking up 11 years of relative peace and quiet, save for the odd public appearance, it's the end of an era for her.

The fact that Kim denies leaking the tape leaves me a little mystified. If she didn't do it, who did? Play along! Let's see, there's Ireland... but I think we can probably rule her out. A housekeeper or nanny, perhaps? If Ireland played the message at a friend's house, could someone (a parent or the friend his/herself) have recorded it, then sold it? Could Kim have given a copy to her lawyer, only to have it fall into the hands of a less than trustworthy legal assistant? While all of these scenarios seem unlikely, in all honesty, there are a lot of people out there who know that magazines and news agencies pay top dollar for stuff like this, and wouldn't bat an eyelash at the thought of thrusting a young girl's private life into the national spotlight. Sad, but true.

I'm sure that the facts of this case will all come to light soon enough... in the mean time, my thoughts are with Ireland Baldwin. For her sake, I hope the frenzy dies down sooner rather than later.

Alec Baldwin Apologizes, Blames "Parental Alienation" for Outburst

Alisyn — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 13:01:00 GMT

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.

Alec Baldwin's Raging, Abuse-Filled Message to Daughter May Cost Him His Parental Rights

Alisyn — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 00:01:00 GMT

Kim Basinger has been fighting for sole custody of her and Alec Baldwin's daughter, Ireland, for some time now. Over the years, the threesome has been in and out of court more than Alec's weight has flucuated - and that's a lot. As it stands now, Kim has primary physical custody of Ireland, with Alec retaining visitation rights.

And now we know why.

Because as this seething, vicious message left on Ireland's voice mail indicates, Alec has some serious and deep-seeded anger issues, and should not be allowed anywhere near his child without supervision. When Ireland failed to answer her phone for her scheduled phone call with Daddy Dearest on April 11, 2007, he unleashed a torrent of rage on her:

Once again, I have made an ass of myself trying to get to a phone to call you at a specific time... When the time comes for me to make the phone call, I stop whatever I'm doing, and I go and I make that phone call... and you don't even have the goddamn phone turned on! I'm tired of playing this game with you. I'm leaving this message for you to tell you that you have insulted me for the last time. You have insulted me. You don't have the brains or the decency as a human being... I don't give a damn that you're 12-years-old or 11-years-old, or that you're a child... or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn't care about what you do as far as I'm concerned... I'm gonna let you know just how angry I am... I'm gonna get on a plane, and I'm gonna come out there for the day, and I'm gonna straighten your ass out when I see you... I'm gonna really make sure you get it, about what a rotten little pig you really are. You are a rude, thoughtless little pig.

Ireland is eleven years old. This is Alec Baldwin raging at his eleven year old child. Stunning, isn't it?

This is verbal abuse, plain and simple, and if i was Kim Basinger, I would have done the exact same thing she did: she took the message to an L.A. Superior Court, and asked that the judge suspend Alec's visitation rights with his daughter, which the judge did (temporarily). A hearing is set for May 4 to determine whether or not Alec's visitation and contact rights with Ireland will be permanently suspended. No word on who leaked the message to the press, but I think we can assume it was Kim, don't you?

(You can listen to the entire message here, but I warn you, it's horrible.)

[Via TMZ]

UPDATE: Alec's spokesperson released the following statement to the TV show "EXTRA": "In the best interest of the child, Alec will do what the mother is pathologically incapable of doing ... keeping his mouth shut and obeying the court order. The mother and her lawyer leaked this sealed material in violation of a court order. Although Alec acknowledges that he should have used different language in parenting his child, everyone who knows him privately knows what he has been put through for the past six years."