More than twenty years after he and actress Kim Basinger divorced, Alec Baldwin reflects on how the split “negatively impacted” his relationship with his eldest daughter, Ireland.
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During the latest episode of his reality TV show The Baldwins, the actor spoke about the 2002 breakup and its effect on Ireland.
“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,” Baldwin said. “[It] went on for seven years, of which the financials were probably a year and a half, and then everything else was custody.”
Alec Baldwin then said the divorce was “just insanity and really, really tough” for him and Ireland. “One of my most regrettable things about the whole thing was how it affected Ireland.”
Baldwin and Basinger were married from 1993 to 2002. Five years later, the actor experienced some backlash when he left an angry voicemail for Ireland. In the voicemail, he referred to Ireland as “a rude, thoughtless little pig.”
The incident led to him temporarily losing visitation rights. He also issued a public apology, insisting he had a “normal relationship” with Ireland.
Baldwin went on to marry his current wife, Hilaria. The couple shares seven children. Ireland also gave birth to his daughter in May 2023.
Alec Baldwin Says He Has a ‘Good Relationship’ With Daughter Ireland
Meanwhile, Alec Baldwin said he now has a “good relationship” with Ireland and spoke about how she interacts with her younger siblings.
“She loves the kids. I mean, she’s very sweet to them, and she’s their older sister, but she’s not in that pack,” he explained. “This is why I think I’m so focused on Carmen, and I want to have a good relationship with Carmen because I have a girl all over again.”
Baldwin’s comments come not long after Basinger spoke to Variety about the current relationship the former spouses have.
“Alec and I have a great relationship. I have great respect for where he is today and his family,” Basinger said. “We don’t spend Christmases and holidays or see each other very much. But we talk. He’ll pick up the phone and call me, and we have a very genuinely cordial and, I think, loving relationship in a lot of ways, just because we share a daughter, and I don’t wish him anything but everything good.”