Alec Baldwin reveals reason behind 'negatively impacted' bond with daughter Ireland: 'Really tough'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Alec Baldwin candidly spoke about the lasting impact of his highly-publicized divorce from actress Kim Basinger, revealing that the fallout deeply affected his relationship with their daughter, Ireland Baldwin.
On the latest episode of his TLC reality show 'The Baldwins' aired on Sunday, March 2, the 66-year-old actor discussed the emotional toll of the split and the years-long legal battle over custody.
Alec Baldwin reflects on 'very protracted' custody battle
On the show, Baldwin shared, “I must say that because my relationship with my daughter Ireland was so negatively impacted by my divorce from her mother and having a very protracted custody battle that the media really were having a party about everything."
“It went on for seven years, of which the financials were probably a year and a half, and then everything else was custody,” he added.
Describing that period as “just insanity and really, really tough,” Baldwin expressed his regrets, admitting that one of the hardest parts of the ordeal was seeing its effect on Ireland.
Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger's divorce that shaped Ireland Baldwin's childhood
Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, once one of Hollywood’s most talked-about couples, tied the knot in 1993.
However, their marriage ended in a messy and bitter divorce in 2002.
Their daughter, now 29, was caught in the middle of the lengthy legal battle between her parents.
In 2007, Baldwin made headlines when an explosive voicemail he left for then-11-year-old Ireland surfaced.
In the message, he called his daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig," an incident that led to a media firestorm and temporarily cost him his visitation rights.
The actor later issued a public apology, according to OK Magazine.
“You do not have the brains or the decency as a human being. I don’t give a d**n that you’re 12 years old or 11 years old, or that you’re a child, or that your mother was a thoughtless pain in the a**, who doesn’t care what you do as far as I am concerned,” Baldwin was heard saying in the message.
“You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone, and when I come out there next week, I am gonna fly out there for the day just to straighten you out on this issue,” he added.
Ireland Baldwin turns pain into humor
Years later, Alec Baldwin and Ireland Baldwin publicly poked fun at the infamous moment. In 2015, the model shared a photo of herself and her father reading a children's book titled 'If I Were a Pig…'
“If I were a pig, I would be rude and thoughtless, of course,” Ireland jokingly captioned the post.
Baldwin joined in on the joke, sharing another photo of the two with the caption, "I’d be rude and thoughtless. That’s the only pig to be.”
Despite their rocky past, the father and daughter have since mended their relationship and share a close bond today.
Baldwin has seven more children with his wife, Hilaria Baldwin, whom he married in 2012.
