Alec Baldwin Apologizes for Phone Fury

Actor posts statement on his Website expressing remorse over angry voicemail he left his 11-year-old daughter; files motion alleging that Kim Basinger violated court order by leaking recording

By Sarah Hall Apr 20, 2007 9:48 PMTags

This is one game of telephone Alec Baldwin would rather not be playing.

The actor took to his Website Friday to apologize and try to explain himself after an angry voicemail message he left for his 11-year-old daughter, Ireland, made its way onto the Internet.

"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," Baldwin wrote. "I'm sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child."

The recording, in which Baldwin called his daughter a "rude, thoughtless pig," and accused her of deliberately missing his scheduled phone call, was one of the subjects of discussion Wednesday at a closed-door hearing regarding the actor's visitation rights with the child.

Upon hearing the message, a family court judge ordered Baldwin to temporarily cease all contact with the child pending a May 4 hearing.

Though it was meant to remain confidential, the recording subsequently fell into the hands of TMZ editor Harvey Levin, who published it on his Website Thursday, while refusing to reveal how he obtained it.

Baldwin immediately issued a statement accusing Basinger and her attorneys of leaking the recording in violation of a court order meant to keep the details of the warring duo's custody dispute under wraps.

Baldwin's attorney, Vicki Greene, filed court documents Friday seeking to determine whether the actress and her legal team were indeed behind leaking the recording, and if so, what legal action could be taken against them, as well as against TMZ for posting the material. (See the legal documents here.)

Greene's contempt-of-court filing included a letter she sent Levin on Thursday, cautioning him against publishing the material and vowing to take legal action if he did so.

"If Mr. Levin had a tape-recorded message between [Baldwin] and the minor child, it had to have originated from [Basinger] or her employees, agents or attorneys," Greene wrote in her court documents.

Basinger is already facing possible jail time for contempt of court stemming from an unspecified violation of the custody order last year.

A hearing on the matter was set for June 5.

During an appearance on the Today show Friday, Levin maintained that TMZ  obtained the recording legally, but declined to elaborate.

"We are not going to say how we got it. We got this legally,” Levin told Matt Lauer. “I'm not going to reveal the sources, but I will also say that we thought about this a lot just because it involves a kid. We have reason to believe that Ireland was just fine with this ending up on tmz.com. We ended up doing what we thought was right."

While Basinger has yet to weigh on the brouhaha, her attorney Neal Hersh issued a statement to TMZ Friday in which he accused Baldwin of playing the blame game instead of taking responsibility for his own actions.

"I am concerned that Mr. Baldwin's recent statement, wherein he attempts to shift responsibility to Kim and her lawyers for his issues with Ireland, shows just how out of touch he is with the reality and gravity of the situation," Hersh said.

Recent statements aside, Baldwin's theories on why his ex-wife is at fault in the situation could fill a book—and apparently, they're going to.

"Once my book is published, I'm sure more people will understand the incredible strains created by parental alienation," he wrote on his Website.