Until TMZ made it public, the threats of the actor Alec Baldwin against his young daughter were not a matter of public record. TMZ has brought the frightening tirade to the internet media, and now it's on YouTube as well. This morning it was broadcast in a seven minute segment on NBC's "Today Show." NBC Today Baldwin has taken legal action against his ex-wife Kim Basinger for having made his private communications with his daughter public. Yesterday Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner Maren Nelson heard the tape and temporarily suspended Baldwin's visitation rights. This is a temporary intervention.
The actor Alec Baldwin’s phone message to his daughter Ireland:
You have insulted me for the last time. So you'd better be ready Friday the 20th to meet with me. So I'm going to let you know just how I feel about what a rude little pig you really are. You are a rude, thoughtless little pig, OK?
Baldwin's message to his daughter:
...
You have insulted me for the last time. You have insulted me. You don't have the brains or the decency as a human being. I don't give a damn that you're 12 years old, or 11 years old, or that you're a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn't care about what you do as far as I'm concerned. You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone....
I am going to get on a plane and I am going to come out there for the day and I am going to straighten your ass out when I see you. Do you understand me? I'm going to really make sure you get it. Then I'm going to get on a plane and I'm going to turn around and come home. So you'd better be ready Friday the 20th to meet with me. So I'm going to let you know just how I feel about what a rude little pig you really are. You are a rude, thoughtless little pig, OK?
When I heard the tape I was sickened and frightened for the young girl. To me this is not a loving father "losing his temper" nor a display of the "fighting Irish." I heard violence errupting and a threat of violence against a child. For me hearing the anger and the threat was too chillingly like the Virginia Tech killer’s manifesto in its rage, its persecution complex and threat of revenge.
And then, in a statement released today, remorse and an explanation, that does nothing for me to reduce the fear that this is not a safe guy:
Alec Baldwin’s statement:
"Although I have been told by numerous people not to worry too much, as all parents lose their patience with their kids, I am most saddened that this was released to the media because of what it does to a child," he wrote. "I’m sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child. I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now. You have to go through this to understand. (Although I hope you never do.) I am sorry for what happened. But I am equally sorry that a court order was violated, which had deliberately been put under seal in this case."
During this last month in US media:
- shockingly racist and sexist bullying of a women’s basketball team (Imus), the
- threats and bullying against a woman who writes for programmers (Sierra),
- a "comedic" digital short on Saturday Night Live called "The Shooter," and
- the horrific violence at Virginia Tech and the subsequent release of the killer’s manifesto by NBC,
- now today from TMZ we have an audio tape of a threatening message left from a famous father to his young daughter.
The first three incidents were "meant to be funny." The first, the third, and the fourth and the fifth were broadcast by NBC. (By another bizarre coincidence NBC is the network that airs the program of the very threatening famous father.}
MSNBC (Don Imus’ former employer) is a joint venture of NBC and Microsoft. NBC News is owned by General Electric Co
As a response to the public, most particularly the families of Virginia Tech victims, and the students at Virginia Tech, NBC and the other major news media scaled down their broadcast of the killer’s video manifesto.
Family members of Virginia Tech victims canceled plans to appear on NBC's "Today" show Thursday because they "were very upset" with the network for showing the pictures, "Today" host Meredith Vieira said.
What do you think about gratuitous about violence in the media? What do you think about violent broadcasts for entertainment, or to earn ratings?
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What do you think about how violence in media impacts on children’s mental health? On American society? Where does violence in American society begin? Is there any way to prevent it?