Basinger in bitter custody battle

James Langton13 April 2012

They were Hollywood's golden couple. But the bitterness erupting between superstars Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin now threatens to wreck their careers.

At the heart of the row is an increasingly acrimonious fight for the custody of their eight-year-old daughter Ireland.

It looks destined to end in a court battle later this month just as Baldwin hopes to win a Golden Globe for his role as a tough Las Vegas casino boss in The Cooler.

Efforts to keep the fight out of the courts - and the headlines - now seem to have failed, with Baldwin said to be furious that an independent evaluator has recommended Basinger be given permanent custody of Ireland.

A judge in California will hear a request later this month to unseal documents that could expose the full details of war between the couple, with a full custody trial following in February.

Basinger, who revived her career as rapper Eminem's 'white trash' mother in Eight Mile, is said to have built her case around claims that her former husband was 'emotionally and physically abusive'.

Both stars seem ready to trash each other's reputations over their daughter, currently living with her mother in Los Angeles.

The couple met on the set of The Marrying Man in 1990 and married less than a year later, with their daughter being born in 1995.

They split, seemingly amicably, in 2001 and divorced the following year. But a war of words broke out as it became clear both parents wanted sole custody of Ireland.

The first shots were fired in a National Enquirer article that claimed Pearl Harbor star Baldwin had beaten his estranged wife in a drunken rage.

His brother Billy hit back, branding Basinger 'a black widow spider' and 'a nutcase'.

He added: 'Is my brother a saint? No. Is he volatile? Yes. But he is not a wife-beater.'

In a deal reached after their divorce, Baldwin agreed to see an anger management therapist and call his daughter only at agreed hours.

Living in New York, he was allowed to see Ireland at set times on one weekend each month in California.

Baldwin is said to have become increasingly unhappy at the restrictions.

A friend said: 'Kim has gone out of her way to be cruel and to use her daughter as a pawn.'

In a court appearance this week the stars refused to even look in each other's direction.

A spokesman for Baldwin said: 'We look forward to all these issues being resolved at trial.'

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