Posted on 12/26/2005 4:12:15 PM PST by Hildy
OSCAR winner Kim Basinger has recently sent a curt email to her ex-husband Alec Baldwin.
It did not contain even the most perfunctory of festive greetings -- she refuses to write or speak his name. The subject of this terse missive was their daughter, Ireland, 10, who is spending New Year with her father in New York. The handover must be planned with almost military precision so that her warring parents do not have to talk to each other or meet.
The child-share deal was thrashed out almost two weeks ago at the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
In an apparent climb-down, Basinger agreed Baldwin could be allowed to spend part of the holidays with their only child.
But the conditions demanded by Basinger, 52, seem draconian. Baldwin will collect his daughter at a pre-arranged drop-off away from the home she shares with her actor mother in LA.
He has to allow a court-appointed female carer to be with his daughter at all times. And if Ireland falls ill he must use a special phone line, installed in Basinger's home for emergencies only.
While she is with her father, Ireland -- Addie to her parents -- will be allowed phone calls from her mother, but they must not exceed limits imposed by the court.
Ireland, say family members, hates leaving her home in exclusive Woodland Hills. And her relationship with her father has not been happy lately.
She is said to be devastated that her parents' bitter divorce and custody battle has exploded publicly into a slanging match, in which Basinger has accused Baldwin of violence and he has countered with claims of her drinking and mental illness.
In the latest instalment of their savage five-year battle, Baldwin, the 47-year-old star of The Aviator, submitted to court a "spiteful" note written to their daughter by Basinger on a chocolate wrapper. He claims it proves she wants to poison his daughter's mind.
Ireland is now a cause celebre in this mesmerising tug of love. The latest court developments have prompted Basinger's father, Don, to speak out.
Mr Basinger had refused to be drawn into the row, but he now fears for his granddaughter's emotional well-being.
"I have a little granddaughter of 10 and from now on she will be very conscious of the situation between her parents," Mr Basinger said.
'This will affect her and as she grows into her teenage years, that's not good. The relationship between Kim and Alec should be improved to the point where they can at least respect each other, talk to each other and work together, as far as Ireland is concerned. This can't go on any more."
The court hearing -- on December 13 -- offered little to suggest a truce.
Baldwin's lawyers accused Basinger of abandoning their daughter to fly to Paris for a photo shoot.
This comes after Baldwin was forced to obtain a court order to take Ireland trick-or-treating at Halloween.
Court papers in the latest round of the battle are said to include claims Baldwin has been investigated by child welfare authorities.
This followed a tip-off by Basinger that Ireland had witnessed a row between her father and his girlfriend, Nicole Seidel.
Sources say Basinger claimed she feared for Ireland's safety and cancelled his fortnightly access. When he arrived to collect Ireland and found she was not there, Baldwin called the police.
He was quick to hit back. In a 48-page document to the court, Baldwin claimed Basinger was "doing what she knows best -- making false allegations against me prior to a court appearance. She unnecessarily and wrongly involved my daughter in her scheme".
He also accused Basinger of training their daughter as a spy.
Basinger retaliated in a public statement: "Everyone knows about Alec Baldwin's behavioural problems -- his anger, his rages. They are, unfortunately, legendary. If his relationship with his daughter is fractured, there is only one person to blame and it is himself."
It is all a far cry from their fairytale wedding in 1993. The couple fell in love on the set of The Marrying Man in 1990. Handsome Baldwin and the former model became Hollywood's hottest couple and, in October 1995, Basinger gave birth to Ireland. But there were already rumours of a turbulent relationship.
In 2000, Basinger left their home and in 2002 they divorced. A series of court hearings, during which the couple refused to look at each other, led last year to Basinger being granted custody.
Ireland's grandfather doesn't mince words on the matter: "It's a childish mess," Mr Basinger said. "There is no longer a relationship between Kim and Alec, but he can now have a good relationship with his daughter or one that's bad. It all depends on him."
Alec Baldwin and Sean Penn are two actors who need no coaching when playing bums.
The man is truly deranged and I for one am glad that there will be a 'carer' with the little girl while she visits her father.
Man, that would make a good movie, but a terrible reality.
If this child ever had a chance of maturing into a well-adjusted adult, it is dwindling rapidly.
But they care so much for others!!! They are examples of tolerance and diverse opinion, of which conservatives cannot conceive, when they smile on oscar night to receive their awards from their fellow actors. What's not to like????
/sarcasm...
All I want to know is how those two morons could get "Addie" out of "Ireland."
Or if they liked "Addie" so much, why didn't they name her Adelaide?
Poor kid. Maybe little Jaques in Houston and his sister Unpronounceable have a better chance in life, after all.
That's Crishonda, you rube! Now please try to be more multicultural and diverse. ;)
Thankfully my divorce is going mor civilly than this one. This is ridiculous beahvior on both parts. Poor kid.
"Names you give your child when you're drunk ..."
"Hey honey, less name the kid after where it was conceived. Howzat sound to ya?"
People who take their honeymoon in Tulsa would never think of that ;-).
Reason 12 I want to honeymoon in New Orleans . . . except Xena's Guy will never let me name a baby that, the killjoy!
It's beyond disgraceful. Although he's the one who people rag on, I suspect she's NUTSO...She proudly admits she was agoraphobic and let's not forget how she bought those town in Georgia that ultimately bankrupted her and it was Baldwin who rescued her financially when she was successfully sued for not making that wretched movie, boxing Helena. Every interview I've read with her made her sound like a nutcase.
5.56mm
You could name your child Joan.
One of my friends gave a daughter the initials K.C., after a trip to Kansas City :-).
Here's Alec wearing a, uh, wife-beater.
John and Yoko Lennon couldn't be "peaceful" and love Paul McCartney.
Even today Yoko and Paul are on bad terms.
Their talk of peace is all posturing. Makes them seem like better people than they really are.
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