Alec Baldwin back in court over visitation rights with daughter.

[buttmunch]

May 4, 2006 -- ALEC Baldwin is aggravated because he has to go back into court to enforce previous judge's orders so that he can see his daughter, Ireland, 10.
Baldwin has barely seen Ireland during the off-Broadway run of "Entertaining Mr. Sloane," which will close May 21.

"He gets just Mondays off, so he goes to L.A. literally for the day, takes his daughter to school, sees her at lunch and then flies back," said a friend.

Baldwin, who has already spent $1.25 million in legal fees, is eligible for "make-up time" for the visitation days he has lost. But he's found it impossible to schedule the make-up time with his ex-wife, Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger.

The legal system is based on "an antiquated view of men and parenting, a 1950s matriarchal model," said Baldwin, who is writing a book about divorce, "A Promise to Ourselves," for St. Martin's Press.

"It never ends," the actor told Page Six yesterday. "You'll go to court and get a court order, but then you have to go to court again to enforce the order."

Baldwin has been besieged by fathers who want to tell him their stories of being frustrated by a court system that doesn't recognize their parental rights.



"We measure men on how good they are as parents, and men want to parent their children," Baldwin said. But family courts routinely give women full custody of children in a divorce, and allow mothers to deprive their ex-husbands of visitation.

Baldwin refused to discuss specifics of his case or to denigrate Basinger: "This woman is still my daughter's mother."

But a friend said that Basinger doesn't allow Ireland to show her love for Baldwin. "Kim makes Alec the enemy. Any sign of affection for him is a betrayal of Kim," said the friend. "When Ireland gets older, she'll realize how badly damaged her mother is."

Basinger, who doesn't work very often, could easily live on the East Coast, where her parents live, but she doesn't get along with her family. "She lives in L.A. for one reason - so she can isolate from people," Baldwin's friend said. "She's an isolator. Alienation is Kim's strong suit. When she's done with you, she's done. She has no friends. All the people around her are on her payroll."

nypost.com

If he doesn't want to say anything bad about her--and she is undoubtedly a bit nuts--why doesn't he shut up and have his un-named 'friend' shut up as well. Oh, wait, I forgot, this is Hollywood, where fucking with your kids is all part of a day's work.

[aabbcc]

Basinger has been a bitch about this from day one. Keep whatever bad feelings you have about the father to yourself or go to therapy, but leave the kid out of it. Divorced parents have a right to spend time with their children whether the custodial parent likes it or not.

[UndercoverGator]

I've gotten the feeling since they first seperated that all this custody wrangling is more about scoring points off each other and pissing each other off in petty revenge than any real love for that kid.

[darksithbunny]

^^^I agree. I worked it out with my ex. We have joint custody with me having residential. We don't call each other names. We actually promote each other to the kids. He gets them pretty much whenever he wants. Why would I deny my children their father? It is selfish. Unless Mr. Baldwin is some kind of freak that we aren't hearing about, then Kim needs to put this crap behind her. Its only going to bite her in the ass later.

[luvmy2cats]

Even though Kim isn't working much, that doesn't mean she should uproot herself and Ireland and move to the east coast to be closer to Alec. Also some divorce decrees on visitation don't allow for make-up time. Alec took the job of being in the play knowing that it would intefere with his visitation rights.

I'm sure at some point in time she may be old enough for the courts to let her decide where she wants to live. If that happens and she picks Alec then I'm sure that he'll pull the same stunts (and rightly so) that she is pulling right now. Ireland is not going to develop good coping skills because her dad is always angry and her mom is a fruitcake. I'll be surprised if she grows up without losing her mind.

With that said, it's pretty crappy that Kim isn't more understanding. Her and Alec may hate each other, but when Ireland grows up and gets married it is going to cause her some heartache and pain when she plans her wedding.

[Lyndsey]

I always feel bad for the kids affected in cases like this. But you can't really blame both or either parent until you know the whole story.

[Wonderwoman]

I feel so sorry for Ireland. A child needs and loves both parents.