Strollerderby : kim basinger

Best of FameCrawler: Week of November 21st

Whit Honea — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:00:00 GMT

BREAKING NEWS: Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz Welcome a Boy!

Angelina Jolie: Pax Still Saves His Food

Travis Barker's Plane Crash: Crash Recordings Released

Five Reasons Mariah Carey IS Pregnant With Nick Cannon's Baby

Ireland Basinger-Baldwin Turns 22

Balthazar Getty and Rosetta- Back Together

Minnie Driver Is Eating to Get Slim

Beatrice McCartney: Life Father, Like Daughter

Top Hollywood Tot: Miss Suri Cruise

Has Something Gone Wrong With Ashlee Simpson's Pregnancy?

Heather Mills Got Third Boob Job

What Real Estate Crisis? David Beckham's Trashed Childhood Home Selling for $1.5 Million

Alec Baldwin: Good Dad or Man Doing Damage Control?

Jen Chaney — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 17:32:00 GMT

Alec Baldwin is the new poster boy for divorced fatherhood. You may have read the recent New Yorker profile or seen his interview with Diane Sawyer on "20/20" or spotted this piece on Yahoo! Shine. If so, then you know the "30 Rock" star has written a new book, A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood and Divorce, that explores his messy split from ex-wife Kim Basinger and its impact on his parenting.

Baldwin says he wants parents, especially fathers, to be aware of the perils of custody battles, divorce court and "Parental Alienation Syndrome," a psychological term that basically means turning a child against the parent who doesn't have custody. Of course, this is also the same guy who left that famous voice mail for daughter Ireland last year, the one where he referred to her as a "thoughtless little pig" because she wasn't answering his scheduled phone calls. He addresses that incident in the interviews as well as the book, and expresses regret about having used such language. And, while it still seems like an extreme reaction, I can understand his perspective a bit more after knowing the hoops the guy has been jumping through to maintain a relationship with his child.

So after having read or seen these interviews -- or perused this excerpt from his book -- do you now think Alec Baldwin is a solid father who has been misunderstood and unfairly characterized by the media? Or do you think he's just trying to rebuild his image in the wake of Voicemail Gate?

My sense is that he genuinely does want to do right by his daughter and that the voice mail was an unfortunate incident for which, seemingly, Ireland has granted him forgiveness.The one thing that gives me some pause, though, is that he wrote this book. Baldwin may genuinely feel that he is doing a service to other parents in the same situation. But if he really wants a normal, private relationship with his kid, I wonder whether it makes sense to delve into all these details in such a widely publicized manner. Undoubtedly there is some ego at work here, too. And when ego gets involved, sometimes it can be hard for any of us to objectively see whether our actions, including writing so publicly about a custody battle, are really the best thing for our children.

Image: Macmillan

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."