Alec Baldwin Gets Advice from Dr. Phil

Troubled actor Alec Baldwin has consulted TV shrink Dr. Phil McGraw about the expletive filled voicemail he left for his 11-year-old daughter. After hearing the leaked recording McGraw publicly offered to to mediate issues between Baldwin and the child's mother, Kim Basinger.

For his part McGraw has taken him up on his offer.

In a phone interview with Ryan Seacrest McGraw said, "He's fighting an uphill battle. He did tell me that his number one priority is sustaining his relationship with his daughter. This is an important point-he didn't say he wants to fix his relationship with her, because there's nothing to fix."

Baldwin has been vilified in the media as the result of the irate soliloquy he left for his his lookalike offspring. In the message he called the girl a "pig" as he berated her for not answering the phone for a prearranged phone conversation.

He ended the call by insulting the girl's mother and telling Ireland Baldwin that she'd humiliated him for the last time.

McGraw says the behavior is out of character for Baldwin adding that Baldwin believes his current work on 30 Rock has made it difficult to maintain a healthy father-daughter relationship.

"...being in New York, doing what he's doing, makes it difficult for him to maintain a healthy relationship with his California-dwelling daughter."

Thursday Baldwin appeared on The View and offered an apology for is behavior.

"Obviously, calling your child a pig or anything else is improper and inappropriate, and I apologize to my daughter for that," the Oscar winning actor said. "Everyone in my life who knows me, knows that I have a great relationship with my daughter."

As a result of the recording Baldwin has been temporarily bared from seeing his daughter. He and Bassinger are due back in court on May 4 to resolve custody issues. Meanwhile Baldwin wants to know exactly who gave the recording to only gossip site TMZ.

During his View appearance Baldwin said he knew "the man" that had leaked the voicemail.

After TMZ published the expletive strewn voice mail it quickly spread to hundreds of websites and blogs.

Baldwin has filed legal papers in Los Angeles County Superior Court to find out who gave TMZ the voice mail message. TMZ refuses to name any confidential sources.

Baldwin and Basinger were married from 1993 to 2002. They have been embroiled in custody battle since their divorce.

Sources

http://abclocal.go.com,http://www.eonline.com

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