Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger were both in court Friday.
Things went downhill from there.
The two refused to look at each other during the early stages of the hearing, before Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Maren E. Nelson kicked out the press and closed the doors to focus on who leaked Baldwin's answering-machine rant.
Baldwin, 49, lost his visitation rights for the ex-couple's daughter, Ireland, on Apr. 18, when Basinger's lawyers played a profane voicemail the 30 Rock star left for the 11-year-old a week earlier.
On the tape, Baldwin screamed at Ireland for refusing to take his call, labeling the girl "a rude, thoughtless pig."
The following day, the recording was leaked to TMZ.com; Baldwin immediately issued an apology and began working to rehab his image.
Meanwhile, his lawyer, Vicki Greene, asked Nelson to determine whether Basinger, 53, and her lawyers, Neal R. Hersh and Judy Bogen, leaked the recording in violation of the commissioner's order to keep the voicemail under seal. If Basinger or the lawyers were found to have given the tape to the Website, Greene wanted them held in contempt. Basinger and her attorneys denied releasing the message.
Friday's hearing was supposed to get to the bottom of the leak. But the proceedings apparently bogged down without any resolution.
The affair clearing infuriated Baldwin, who twice left the courtroom. During one of his timeouts, Baldwin could be heard muttering, "This is a waste of my [bleeping] time."
After the hearing, Greene confirmed that the dueling parties didn't settle their differences, even after Nelson kept things going until 5 p.m., pushing the proceedings to nearly four hours.
"I think the court went overtime because Alex and Kim were here," Greene said.
Hersh declined to comment, citing a gag order imposed by Nelson. Dianna Gould-Saltman, Ireland's guardian ad litem for the ongoing custody battle, also refused to answer reporters' queries.
Nelson said it was her "obligation to protect the privacy of Ireland," but added that some documents related to the case may be released to the media next week.
The hearing will pick up on June 25.