Baldwin apology over phone rant

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin divorced in 2002

Actor Alec Baldwin has apologised on his website for calling his daughter a "rude, thoughtless little pig" in a phone message later published online.

He said in the statement that he had been "driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years".

Apparently sparked by his failure to reach 11-year-old Ireland by phone, his rant accused her of humiliating him.

Baldwin and his ex-wife Kim Basinger have been embroiled in a long-running legal tussle over Ireland.

In the statement on his website the actor said: "I'm sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child."

He also said he was "most saddened... because of what it does to a child" that the voicemail message appeared on celebrity websites.

Baldwin's statement said: "Everyone who knows me privately knows that I have endured a great deal over the last several years in my custody litigation."

He and Basinger, who split in 2000 after seven years of marriage, have each made claims of attempts to turn the child against them.

Basinger won a best supporting actress Oscar in 1998 for LA Confidential, and has also appeared in Nine 1/2 Weeks and 8 Mile.

The Cooler earned Baldwin an Oscar nomination in 2004, while other major roles have been in The Aviator and Glengarry Glen Ross.