Alec Baldwin's Threatening Message to Daughter

[Timothy]

Now who is grasping at straws? If equating your child with a barnyard animal in a moment of anger is not just hilarious but also a crime, we'd better start building more prisons. Lots of them.

what your the one who said that what happens between a parent and a child is personal and everybody should butt out ...

or is that just for famous people?

berating a child is never funny and if you think it is that says a lot about the tip of person you are.

No, I believe I actually said "Your opinion of what he did, and mine, is utterly irrelevant and the whole incident is no-one's business but the Baldwins'." We know what he did. He didn't stick her head down the toilet, didn't fuck her in the ass in a broom closet. He called her a pig. It's clear that I was talking about that. You then tried to equate that with child abuse which is clearly not the correct level of comparison.

How exactly would you fare if the arbiters of moral decency had a direct line into your daily life? I think it was Jesus, of the Christ family, who said something along the lines of "let he who is free from sin cast the first stone," (though it may have been George Lucas. Not sure. Which one got nailed to the cross for Jar-jar?)

berating a child is a form of child abuse... Having the arbiter moral decency in my life would fase me on bit. Wont see me belittling my child like this asshole.

quoting the bible and all it tall tales now are we sir.

it's clear we don't agree on this .

[25]

berating a child is a form of child abuse... Having the arbiter moral decency in my life would fase me on bit. Wont see me belittling my child like this asshole.

quoting the bible and all it tall tales now are we sir.

it's clear we don't agree on this .

Calling your daughter a pig, once, is not "berating" and certainly doesn't qualify as child abuse under any legal definition. Besides which, the man clearly lost his temper and equally clearly brought his message to a close before he truly crossed the line. Seems to show both awareness and belated consideration, hardly the tools of the ravenous child-hating monster some are trying to paint him as.

I would say, despite the many attempted extrapolations you've already slipped into your posts so far, that it is more telling of the character of a person that they are willing to engage in the vilification and character assassination  of a total stranger for behavior which pales in comparison to the accepted social norms, simply because that stranger is also a celebrity. A nice, soft target for pompous self-righteous "moralists," secure in the knowledge that their own foibles are anonymous. 

[Krispy Kreme]

I would just say 3 things:

1. some kids are good, some are badly behaved. If you are lucky (and despite your best efforts!) your kid turns out to be well-behaved. The badly behaved kids are really really hard to deal ?with day in and day out. It ?grates on you. They antagonize you with purpose.

2. Until you have a kid, a badly behaved kid at that, do not be so quick to judge others.

3. We do not know what led up to this; I am sure he went through hell to get to this point. I say cut him some ?slack until you know what he has been through.

[Timothy]

berating a child is a form of child abuse... Having the arbiter moral decency in my life would fase me on bit. Wont see me belittling my child like this asshole.

quoting the bible and all it tall tales now are we sir.

it's clear we don't agree on this .

Calling your daughter a pig, once, is not "berating" and certainly doesn't qualify as child abuse under any legal definition. Besides which, the man clearly lost his temper and equally clearly brought his message to a close before he truly crossed the line. Seems to show both awareness and belated consideration, hardly the tools of the ravenous child-hating monster some are trying to paint him as.

I would say, despite the many attempted extrapolations you've already slipped into your posts so far, that it is more telling of the character of a person that they are willing to engage in the vilification and character assassination  of a total stranger for behavior which pales in comparison to the accepted social norms, simply because that stranger is also a celebrity. A nice, soft target for pompous self-righteous "moralists," secure in the knowledge that their own foibles are anonymous. 

once he called her a pig more then once . and even threatened her.

So now I'm in the wrong because I don't think berating a child . is a ok. I could give a fuck that dude is famous. You  say other of being on a moral high horse . and if not being down with what this guy said mean I am then I guess I am.

Nobody is trying to assassinated a total stranger character her the dude did that all on his own.

[Axl4Prez2004]

I first heard the call on The Sean Hannity radio show.  (I've reeeeally got to stop listening to him)  He chopped up the message and only played the parts where he's saying some pretty terrible things to his daughter.  While it's alright for him to air this obviously private phone message, he's busy berating NBC for airing the Va. Tech shooter's idiotic ramblings. 

Anyway, Krispy Kreme has it right.  We don't know what precipitated this, but we can safely say that Alec and Kim had a toxic relationship and it has spilled down onto the kids.  For this to have gone public is disgusting.  If Bassinger had anything to do with this leak, I hope she gets what's coming to her.  She (the mom) does have a history of mental illness does she not?  I remember something about agoraphobia being in her past but I'm not certain.  Reality is blending in with my old tv (The Simpsons) memory.   

[25]

once he called her a pig more then once . and even threatened her.

So now I'm in the wrong because I don't think berating a child . is a ok. I could give a fuck that dude is famous. You  say other of being on a moral high horse . and if not being down with what this guy said mean I am then I guess I am.

Nobody is trying to assassinated a total stranger character her the dude did that all on his own.

Here we go.

1) The semantic argument; He used the word pig twice in one sentence. One voicemail. It's one occasion. Yes, he said it twice. On one occasion. It is one instance of him calling her a pig twice.

2) The straw-man argument; No-one said that berating a child is okay or that you were wrong for feeling that it isn't okay. Our disagreement was whether Baldwin berated his daughter to the extent that it qualifies as child abuse. If you want to argue about it, argue the actual point and not a substitute.

3) The "dude is famous"; What on earth does his celebrity have to do with anything? Why keep bringing it up? Either what he did is wrong or it's not, it's not more wrong or less wrong just because it's Jack Ryan on the phone.

[Timothy]

once he called her a pig more then once . and even threatened her.

So now I'm in the wrong because I don't think berating a child . is a ok. I could give a fuck that dude is famous. You  say other of being on a moral high horse . and if not being down with what this guy said mean I am then I guess I am.

Nobody is trying to assassinated a total stranger character her the dude did that all on his own.

Here we go.

1) The semantic argument; He used the word pig twice in one sentence. One voicemail. It's one occasion. Yes, he said it twice. On one occasion. It is one instance of him calling her a pig twice.

2) The straw-man argument; No-one said that berating a child is okay or that you were wrong for feeling that it isn't okay. Our disagreement was whether Baldwin berated his daughter to the extent that it qualifies as child abuse. If you want to argue about it, argue the actual point and not a substitute.

3) The "dude is famous"; What on earth does his celebrity have to do with anything? Why keep bringing it up? Either what he did is wrong or it's not, it's not more wrong or less wrong just because it's Jack Ryan on the phone.

1. yes it is one occasion .But does that make it alright though?

2. it is child abuse to me. be it on an emotional level.

3 . Is was responding to saying it is to critic him because of his celebrity status. And what I said was It doesn't matter to me that he is a celebrity.." I could give a fuck that dude is famous"

[25]

1. yes it is one occasion .But does that make it alright though?

2. it is child abuse to me. be it on an emotional level.

1) Is it really a question of right and wrong or, as is more frequently the case in emotional matters, a question of whether the circumstances (which we don't even really know) at least render the outburst understandable? And should someone be vilified for an emotional outburst?

2) See how easy?! You feel that it's child abuse, I don't feel that it's child abuse. Argument over, because we're just expressing opinions and not making statements anymore. 

[Krispy Kreme]

Let me add another 2 cents, why? I do not know.

But  as  a parent, I can say that  sometimes you get frustrated, you have bad days, you are tired, the kid  pushes you, etc etc.

One blow up does not mean it  is child abuse.

To me, the key is "cause." if a child is verbally abused  without  cause, that is abuse. But if the kid is an ass and you lose it, that is human nature to blow up. It is not abuse. Patience has its  limits. Some kids ONLY understand yelling. Calm talk does  not work. Take it from me, I have been through it all. I am not defending Baldwin, but I am saying that I can understand him and I  would give him the benefit of the doubt until we knew the full situation.

[25]

To me, the key is "cause." if a child is verbally abused  without  cause, that is abuse. But if the kid is an ass and you lose it, that is human nature to blow up. It is not abuse. Patience has its  limits. Some kids ONLY understand yelling. Calm talk does  not work. Take it from me, I have been through it all.

As a former hellish problem-child myself, I agree.

[kathy]

One occasion THAT we know of. The level of blatant disrespect that Alec used while speaking to his daughter isn't typical of a one time occurance. This is a progressive act. This may have been the most volatile occurance but it does not lessen it being verbal abuse, which is a form of child abuse. With over 3 million reports made annually in the US and out of those nearly 900,000 end in a conviction why should this blatant verbal abuse be treated any different than if Joe Blow off the street were treating his child the same?

No child, regardless of their "crimes", deserve to be spoke to in such a manner. You are setting a dangerous precident writing this off as every parent loses their temper, maybe the kid deserves it and all of the other bullshit excuses being spewed thus far. You are teaching children, all children, that instead of dealing with things in a calm, mature manner that is okay to lash out at others. It is ok to verbally or physically attack others because you aren't pleased with their actions. Yet you expect them to seperate the two when they get older and not hit or curse out every person who may or may not piss them off.

[SLCPUNK]

I would just say 3 things:

1. some kids are good, some are badly behaved. If you are lucky (and despite your best efforts!) your kid turns out to be well-behaved. The badly behaved kids are really really hard to deal  with day in and day out. It  grates on you. They antagonize you with purpose.

2. Until you have a kid, a badly behaved kid at that, do not be so quick to judge others.

3. We do not know what led up to this; I am sure he went through hell to get to this point. I say cut him some  slack until you know what he has been through.

There is indeed a gauntlet of emotions one must endure as a parent. Very few of them are pleasant. Anybody who tells you otherwise is a liar. Being a parent is not easy, nor is it supposed to be.

Being a divorced parent those emotions certainly can become magnified.

Divorced and in a bitter custody battle, even more so.

My cousin went through something similar to this. His ex-wife was a wicked person to the bone (not saying Bassinger is). She brain washed his son against him, used the son as a tool to get her way, worked him for money, had the IRS investigate his income, had a family member in the FBI watch his every move....money money money money money. She was absolutely relentless in regards to money...his money. Second to money, was making sure her son grew up to hate her father. Eventually it worked, and it broke him (my cousin.) He didn't flip out, but he just shut down. That was how he dealt with it, he simply gave up-he had enough.

Usually I despise celebrity gossip, meandering in their personal affairs, discussing what little we know, making judgments, and coming to conclusions (enough commas MCT?) That is usually why I avoid Axl discussions, and band speculation. Because I know, that I don't know. I only know a tidbit of information, and the rest is bullshit, simply too petty for my taste most of the time. That being said, Mr. Baldwin did something stupid, and left a message that wasn't very nice. That's it. We have no idea of what led up to that, or if nothing did. (I surely wouldn't judge him a violent man because of "his face".) His wife, her lawyer, daughter, whoever released the clip out of pure malice, and that was not very nice either.

I guess it's what we all need to see isn't it? The "Stars" are just as fucked up as we are after all....well no shit sherlock.

Now back to your regularly scheduled program...

[kathy]

There is indeed a gauntlet of emotions one must endure as a parent. Very few of them are pleasant. Anybody who tells you otherwise is a liar. Being a parent is not easy, nor is it supposed to be.

Being a divorced parent those emotions certainly can become magnified.

Divorced and in a bitter custody battle, even more so.

My cousin went through something similar to this. His ex-wife was a wicked person to the bone (not saying Bassinger is). She brain washed his son against him, used the son as a tool to get her way, worked him for money, had the IRS investigate his income, had a family member in the FBI watch his every move....money money money money money. She was absolutely relentless in regards to money...his money. Second to money, was making sure her son grew up to hate her father. Eventually it worked, and it broke him (my cousin.) He didn't flip out, but he just shut down. That was how he dealt with it, he simply gave up-he had enough.

Usually I despise celebrity gossip, meandering in their personal affairs, discussing what little we know, making judgments, and coming to conclusions (enough commas MCT?) That is usually why I avoid Axl discussions, and band speculation. Because I know, that I don't know. I only know a tidbit of information, and the rest is bullshit, simply too petty for my taste most of the time. That being said, Mr. Baldwin did something stupid, and left a message that wasn't very nice. That's it. We have no idea of what led up to that, or if nothing did. (I surely wouldn't judge him a violent man because of "his face".) His wife, her lawyer, daughter, whoever released the clip out of pure malice, and that was not very nice either.

I guess it's what we all need to see isn't it? The "Stars" are just as fucked up as we are after all....well no shit sherlock.

Now back to your regular scheduled program...

No but you know we choose to have children, they don't ask to be born. If you make the conscious choice to have a child then you should suck it up and act like an adult. You're right, parenting is hard. You aren't exactly given an instruction manual when you give birth and every child has their own little personality. You, as the parent, have to find what works and what doesn't and have to be willing to constantly grow and change as your child does.

With that said, whether or not she was directly involved with the leak of the message it was a shit thing to do and she should be held accountable. There was a gag order put in place for a reason and obviously she or someone in her camp broke it. The best thing the court could do for this child is appoint a mediator, at the parents expense, to oversee that both parent has adequate contact with the child. Both parents should also undergo court ordered counseling and parenting classes. What both parties need to keep in mind is it isn't about him or her but about the child. If one or both parties can't comply then the court needs to step in and find someone that can and will look out for the best interest of the child, even if that means removing her from their care.

[SLCPUNK]

No but you know we choose to have children, they don't ask to be born. If you make the conscious choice to have a child then you should suck it up and act like an adult. You're right, parenting is hard. You aren't exactly given an instruction manual when you give birth and every child has their own little personality. You, as the parent, have to find what works and what doesn't and have to be willing to constantly grow and change as your child does.

That is neither here nor there, and I didn't say that was not true either.

People make mistakes, and react differently under different stress loads, that was my point.

[D]

He could've just threatened to revoke her trust fund. That probably would've worked.

On a serious note though, I don't hold this too hard against Alec Baldwin. we don't know the circumstances and stress he is going through. Everyone is guilty of snapping and saying some stuff they don't mean. Maybe he feels his daughter has been brainwashed and he just emotionally lost it.

It happens.

[Timothy]

He could've just threatened to revoke her trust fund. That probably would've worked.

On a serious note though, I don't hold this too hard against Alec Baldwin. we don't know the circumstances and stress he is going through. Everyone is guilty of snapping and saying some stuff they don't mean. Maybe he feels his daughter has been brainwashed and he just emotionally lost it.

It happens.

true but if still dude shouldn't have snapped at his kid like that. it isn't her fault him and kim are going through a mess break up.

[D]

To me he was lashing out at Kim through his daughter. He basically said to his daughter what he wanted to say to her. I don't really think its that big of a deal.

I mean he is her father, gave her a great life and she repays him by not returning his phone calls? Thats a shitty thing for a kid to do if u ask me and pretty god damn ungrateful.

[Timothy]

To me he was lashing out at Kim through his daughter. He basically said to his daughter what he wanted to say to her. I don't really think its that big of a deal.

I mean he is her father, gave her a great life and she repays him by not returning his phone calls? Thats a shitty thing for a kid to do if u ask me and pretty god damn ungrateful.

And maybe the kid couldn't return his calls. Not like he hasn't gotten anything out of being a father.

[D]

I just think its unfair for people to judge the guy when behind closed doors most people have probably went off on their kids a lot worse than this.

[Timothy]

yeah their have and are people doing a lot worse then what he did. still doesn't make it right . But hell everybody has a bd day. just hope he hasn't had a lot of bad days.