# Whoa, Alec Baldwin. . . what's goin' on there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 19, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850 "2007-04-19T21:19:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/21 "2007-04-20T05:33:34Z")
[QUOTE=Menocchio] I think this goes past usual gossip and straight into “none of our business and we should stay the hell out of it.” Just because the guy’s an actor and sometimes political blowhard doesn’t mean his family dirty laundry should be public, any more than, say, your neighbor. [/QUOTE] Hello? It’s no longer the 16th century. Now it is indeed important that anybody acting abusively to a kid be known to the public. He was a beast to his wife. > [@](#): > > The report exonerates Ms. Basinger of all false allegations made by Mr. Baldwin and acknowledges that **Ms. Basinger lived in an emotionally and physically abusive marriage for 10 years** . [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000107/news](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000107/news) (my bold). Men known for abusive behaviour towards wives aren’t exactly guaranteed to be great fathers. Just because everybody _lurves_ him in his new show doesn’t mean he’s not seriously screwed up. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/22 "2007-04-20T05:40:16Z")
I had MUCH much much–much much MUCH much much–worse from my parents. At least Baldwin, angry as he is, is actually addressing the child’s behavior in his rant; he’s not telling her she’s a terrible child, or whatever other horrible things I think of as true emotional abuse. Sometimes anger is appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/23 "2007-04-20T05:48:56Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] I had MUCH much much–much much MUCH much much–worse from my parents. [/quote] I’m sorry about that, but I fear your sense of proportion has been skewed by your personal experience. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/24 "2007-04-20T05:55:33Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Hello? It’s no longer the 16th century. Now it is indeed important that anybody acting abusively to a kid be known to the public. He was a beast to his wife. . [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000107/news](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000107/news) (my bold). Men known for abusive behaviour towards wives aren’t exactly guaranteed to be great fathers. Just because everybody _lurves_ him in his new show doesn’t mean he’s not seriously screwed up. [/QUOTE] Then call the police and have him locked up, I’m sure they’ll be interested in the evidence you found. Or are you just in it for the voyeurism? See, I don’t know Baldwin. He’s not a family member, coworker, friend, or even an acquaintance. I haven’t witnessed him committing criminal abuse (yelling at his kids isn’t a crime in itself). I’m not a lawyer, juror, investigator, or otherwise involved in his custodial battle. This doesn’t concern me. Where the proper authorities have already been informed about any abuse (and let’s face it, this is borderline at worst, without knowing the context and followup I certainly wouldn’t call CPS on him if I overheard it), it’s unseemly to spread this kind of stuff around, and it’d be as true for my neighbor Mr. Smith as it is for famous actor Alec Baldwin. The fact that I know who Alec Baldwin is doesn’t make his family life any more my business than it would be otherwise. Does it matter if a celebrity is an asshole? No, not at all. I watch and enjoy Roman Polanski movies, after all, and he’s an actual \*rapist \*and fugitive from justice. The whole culture of celebrity just disgusts me. The personal lives of actors and other performers I enjoy have no bearing on me. They aren’t roles they produce for my entertainment or edification, they’re real lives just like yours or mine. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/25 "2007-04-20T05:59:13Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] I’m sorry about that, but I fear your sense of proportion has been skewed by your personal experience. [/QUOTE] Pretty patronizing way to dismiss any response I might have. Unless you mean to suggest that yours is the only possible perspective? ---
**Author:** ![Traveling\_Riverside\_Bluesman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Traveling\_Riverside\_Bluesman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Traveling_Riverside_Bluesman)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/26 "2007-04-20T06:01:13Z")
Nope, apparently just the only right one. The rest of us have been _skewed_! That sound vaguely dirty ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/27 "2007-04-20T06:16:41Z")
[QUOTE=lissener] Pretty patronizing way to dismiss any response I might have. Unless you mean to suggest that yours is the only possible perspective? [/QUOTE] No. However since I was lucky enough to grow up without that kind of difficulty, I’ll not be judging what happens to that kid as ‘not nearly as bad as what happened to me’ to mean it’s not bad enough to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/28 "2007-04-20T10:11:29Z")
Ah. Well thanks for ignoring what I actually said and instead informing me what I was thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/29 "2007-04-20T10:56:36Z")
[QUOTE=Menocchio] This doesn’t concern me. [/QUOTE] Preach it, brother. I’m am totally, 100%, completely and absolutely in agreement with everything you said. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/30 "2007-04-20T13:15:39Z")
I could see his side about loving his daughter and being upset because she maybe doesn’t want to have anything to do with him, up until the little pig part, which there is no justification for, unless he apologized immediately for saying it, like one second after saying it- sometimes things do slip out that you don’t mean, but him not backtracking shows he meant it and it was no accident. But taking away visitation because of any form of yelling like that is extreme- I too got yelled at a lot, but admittedly was never called names like pig. But clearly he is not on some crazy rant, he feels there was rude behavior and is calling her on it, nothing wrong with that part. I too find it odd he that Alec Baldwin is running aroung town, looking for a spare change and a pay phone to call his kid :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/31 "2007-04-20T14:41:37Z")
[QUOTE=Tahssa] I don’t think he’s on drugs. I think he is selfish and has a superiority complex. All he talks about is how she made HIM look like an ass and how she is insulting HIM. [/QUOTE] I don’t know the kid, I don’t know Alec, I don’t know Kim, I don’t know how Alec and Kim are using the daughter against one another, and I don’t want to comment on the specific call. I do know that sometimes a parent can get through to a child who looks up to them by stating how the child’s behavior affects the parent. The child might not care about how it affects themselves, but they might not want to disappoint the parent. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/32 "2007-04-20T14:46:44Z")
I can see his point though- you love your daughter, were very close to her until a divorce, then kid lives with mom, mom probably bad mouthing him all the time, and at some point either mom bad mouthing him coupled with him not being around all the time and the hassle of having to leave home for weekend visitation, etc. has made them distant, and he’s pissed about it, and can’t take it out on mom. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/33 "2007-04-20T14:56:07Z")
I woke up this morning while this was being played on the radio, and we turned it off. I think it’s an awful thing to do to a kid–no excuse at all for that. If I was an 11-yo girl, getting a message like that would completely freak me out. Such a message _from my dad_ would have me huddled in the corner, a jellyfied puddle. IMO he’s completely destroyed any chance he had of getting her to like or trust him for the next few years. No amount of apology is going to erase that from her mind anytime soon. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/34 "2007-04-20T14:57:39Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] Hello? It’s no longer the 16th century. Now it is indeed important that anybody acting abusively to a kid be known to the public. He was a beast to his wife. . [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000107/news](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000107/news) (my bold). Men known for abusive behaviour towards wives aren’t exactly guaranteed to be great fathers. Just because everybody _lurves_ him in his new show doesn’t mean he’s not seriously screwed up. [/QUOTE] I couldn’t find anything in the article that said he was abusive. They’re both nuts. They’ve been in an ugly custody battle for years. Trying to take one person’s side over another based on clips or what either side leaks to the media is a waste of time. Trying to judge a person based on part of a clip that she leaked to the media (who would do that?) can be misleading. But I guess that’s what keeps the National Enquirer in business. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/35 "2007-04-20T15:03:37Z")
[QUOTE=dangermom] I woke up this morning while this was being played on the radio, and we turned it off. I think it’s an awful thing to do to a kid–no excuse at all for that. If I was an 11-yo girl, getting a message like that would completely freak me out. Such a message _from my dad_ would have me huddled in the corner, a jellyfied puddle. IMO he’s completely destroyed any chance he had of getting her to like or trust him for the next few years. No amount of apology is going to erase that from her mind anytime soon. [/QUOTE] You really don’t know if that was the whole conversation. To me he sounded angry and frustrated. Maybe he thought Kim would get the message and it was directed more to her. She’s been fighting not to even let him call his daughter. What kind of a mother tries to portray her kids father to the world as some kind of ogre by leaking the tape? She seems to be doing everything she can to prevent her daughter from even talking to her father. I don’t think she’s blameless in this. When my son was around his father or wanted to talk to him, I held my nose and did everything I could so he’d have a good relationship with his father. I didn’t talk bad about him. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/36 "2007-04-20T15:06:43Z")
Sounds like a frustrated dad and a malicious ex-wife to me. Yea, he blew his lid. ---
**Author:** ![rhythmonly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee59a6/32.png) [@rhythmonly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhythmonly)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/37 "2007-04-20T15:08:09Z")
Am I the only one that read the “The mother and her lawyer leaked this sealed material in violation of a court order” part? ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/38 "2007-04-20T15:09:45Z")
I’ve heard some tabloid rumors that Alec has quite at temper. This kinda proves that, doesn’t it? It is alleged that Kim B and her attorney leaked the tape. What a wonderful set of parents this kid has. She’s no better than him, IMO. [QUOTE=DiosaBellissima] Seriously? Your father would regularly scream at you worse than that? He’d call you names? I’m really sorry. No child deserves that. [/QUOTE] Mine did, too. And you’re right, no child deserves that. ETA: I guess that make 2 of us, **rythmonly**. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/39 "2007-04-20T15:09:46Z")
[QUOTE=Caridwen] You really don’t know if that was the whole conversation. To me he sounded angry and frustrated. Maybe he thought Kim would get the message and it was directed more to her. She’s been fighting not to even let him call his daughter. What kind of a mother tries to portray her kids father to the world as some kind of ogre by leaking the tape? She seems to be doing everything she can to prevent her daughter from even talking to her father. I don’t think she’s blameless in this. When my son was around his father or wanted to talk to him, I held my nose and did everything I could so he’d have a good relationship with his father. I didn’t talk bad about him. [/QUOTE] You are a good one then, not many do this. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2007, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850/40 "2007-04-20T15:11:38Z")
Random thoughts that I’m a bit too lazy to put into a coherent post: - I can see why a parent, especially a parent whose time is as limited with their child as Baldwin, would be ultra-focused on being able to have access to that child at the appropriate time; - I can see why that parent may view an inability to access that child as either a power-play by mom or evidence of poor behavior on the part of the child; - I can definitely see why a court battle lasting, what, six years? can finally make someone snap; - I have no doubt whatsoever that Basinger is, and has been, exgaging in tactics that would make the most over-the-top Parental Alienation Syndrome case look like the Cosby show; - I would be very, VERY interested in exactly who handed the recording over to the media, and I hope that whoever it was gets seriously bitch-slapped by the courts; - What Baldin said is understandable (and I have to give him credit for focusing on her behavior and how it affects him), but highly inappropriate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoa-alec-baldwin-whats-goin-on-there/400850.md?page=3)