Secrets The Baldwin Family Tried To Hide
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The Baldwin family is one of the most notorious in Hollywood. Its first-generation stars were handsome, debonair and acclaimed in their prime: Movie stars Alec, Stephen, Daniel, and Billy were on Tinseltown's A-list, especially after Alec's marriage to stunner Kim Basinger, who went on to win an Oscar and elevate the entire family even further into the celebrity stratosphere. Alec and Kim became parents to beautiful daughter Ireland, who would grow up to be a model, while Stephen would eventually spawn models Alaia and Hailey Baldwin, who's engaged to Justin Bieber, as of this writing.
While the brood's celebrity grew, however, so did their behind-the-scenes drama. From bankruptcies to bitter divorces to drug problems, the Baldwins are never boring. While many of the Baldwin family members try to stay under the radar, others are hungry for the spotlight, even if their own scandals are the only things that keep them there. These are the biggest Baldwin family secrets that even the most fame-hungry members tried to hide.
Alec Baldwin may be homophobic
Alec Baldwin prides himself on being anti-Donald Trump and is a registered Democrat with left-leaning political views, which makes it extra shocking that he was accused of being homophobic more than once.
In June 2012, Baldwin angrily tweeted, then deleted (via The Hollywood Reporter) comments about then-New York Daily News editor-in-chief Colin Myler, calling him an "English Queen." A year later, People reported that Baldwin tweeted and deleted (as was his pattern) that a Daily Mail reporter was a "toxic little queen." In November 2013, Baldwin was fired from his MSNBC talk show, Up Late With Alec Baldwin, after allegedly screaming homophobic slurs at a New York Post photographer, Page Six reported.
After his show's cancellation, Baldwin wrote in Vulture, "Am I a homophobe? Look, I work in show business. I am awash in gay people, as colleagues and as friends. I'm doing Rock Of Ages (2012) one day, making out with Russell Brand. Soon after that, I'm advocating with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Cynthia Nixon for marriage equality. I'm officiating at a gay friend's wedding. I'm not a homophobic person at all."
Fair enough, but in April 2014, Fox News reported that Baldwin made homophobic implications in a tweet to a Mitt Romney aide. While Baldwin insists he's not homophobic, his pattern of making seemingly homophobic remarks is troubling to say the least.
Alec Baldwin's infamous 'thoughtless little pig' voicemail
In 2007, Alec Baldwin directed his hot temper at Ireland, his daughter with ex-wife Kim Basinger (from whom he'd split in 2002), in a voicemail heard 'round the world.
TMZ obtained audio of a message to Ireland, then 11, in which Alec roars, "You are a rude, thoughtless little pig. You don't have the brains or the decency as a human being. I don't give a damn that you're ... you're a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the a** ... Once again I have made an a** of myself trying to get to a phone." Alec also was perceived to have threatened Ireland when he said he would "straighten her out," leading a family judge to bar him from seeing the child.
A rep for Alec later said in a statement that Kim and her attorney violated a court order in releasing the audio. Thankfully, Alec, Ireland, and Kim have all reconciled. In 2012, Ireland told Page Six of the incident, "The only problem with that voicemail was that people made it out to be a way bigger deal than it was. He'd said stuff like that before just because he's frustrated. For me it was like, 'OK, whatever.' I called him back [and] I was like, 'Sorry Dad, I didn't have my phone.' That was it."
Alec Baldwin suffered a drug overdose
Though his brothers were known for their substance abuse problems, Alec Baldwin also battled demons in the form of addiction, revealing in his 2017 memoir Nevertheless that he actually once suffered from a drug overdose, which was the wakeup call he needed in order to get sober.
Baldwin told Good Morning America in March 2017 that he kept his prior drug problems "very private for years and years and years," and he was able to do so because he cleaned up his act pretty early on.
"I think I would have gotten [sobriety] eventually, but, I'm glad I got it when I did 'cause not many people get sober when they're young," he explained. "I got sober when I was just about to turn 27, and those two years [before] that I lived in that white, hot period, as a daily drug abuser, as a daily drinker — that was a tough time. There was really, really a lot of pain in there."
Stephen Baldwin went broke
Stephen Baldwin learned the hard way that Biodome (1996) money wouldn't last forever.
In 2009, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Baldwin filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy, claiming to owe "more than $2.3 million" in debt and owning a $1.1 million New York home. At the time, he owed money on his two mortgages for the property, as well as over $1 million in back taxes.
In 2012, TMZ reported that Baldwin was arrested in New York for failing to file tax returns for 2008, 2009, and 2010, owing the state of New York over $350,000 in back taxes. The district attorney said in a statement at the time, "When Rockland County and New York State face severe fiscal shortfalls, we cannot afford to allow wealthy residents to break the law by cheating on their taxes ... The defendant's repetitive failure to file returns and pay taxes over a period of several years contributes to the sweeping cutbacks and closures in local government and in our schools."
Baldwin pleaded guilty and paid back $300,000, according to The Blast, in order to avoid serving time behind bars.
Thankfully, by 2018, The Blast reported that he had paid more than $21,000 in back taxes to the state of New York and $407,000 to the IRS. The Blast reported that he also moved out of his Nyack, N.Y., home, on which he'd defaulted $781,000 on the mortgages, and "into a small apartment in Queens, NY."
Stephen Baldwin's minor rap sheet
Stephen Baldwin's legal woes didn't end with his taxes. They also extended to his wheels.
In May 2014, Baldwin was busted for "allegedly driving with a suspended license" in New York City. Baldwin was reportedly toting "an expired Texas car registration" as well. Page Six reported that Baldwin was "charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle," which is a misdemeanor, as well as "driving an unregistered vehicle and driving with a suspended license."
It wasn't the first time, either: The site reported that he was arrested for a similar offense in August 2012 when he was pulled over for "making an illegal U-turn." According to the Associated Press, Baldwin was then arrested and charged with "unlicensed driving," which is considered a traffic infraction and not a crime. He was fined $75. His attorney claimed it was a "misunderstanding" about Stephen's driver's license and that it had "been cleared up."
Ireland Baldwin's rehab stint
Alec Baldwin's oldest daughter, model Ireland Baldwin, went through some struggles of her own. After splitting from rapper Angel Haze in February 2015, Baldwin reportedly went on a downward spiral that ended up with a trip to rehab, allegedly for substance abuse and hard partying.
A source told Radar Online, "[Ireland] was not a hard drug user, but she did drown her feelings ... This went on for a couple of months and during that time, she shut everyone out including her family." In April 2015, Baldwin was hospitalized for severe stomach pains (later reported to be appendicitis), at which point she reportedly acknowledged that she needed help.
Baldwin checked into the Soba Recovery Center in Malibu, Calif., which treats addictions as well as underlying psychological problems that may lead to them, Radar Online reported. She tweeted (via Radar Online), "I'm not much of a party cat but I am here [to] deal with some emotional trauma and getting the intensive therapy I needed in order to recover ... I needed a chance to work on myself and gather all the tools I need to overcome everything that I had been through and rid myself of all the pain I locked away in unreachable places."
Thankfully, she progressed beautifully with the support of her family, especially mom Kim Basinger, who sent her care packages frequently, and is now doing much better.
Daniel Baldwin's drug problem
Daniel Baldwin was reported to be even more troubled than his more-famous brothers.
E! News reported that in February 1997, Baldwin went on "a cocaine-fueled, hotel-room rampage" at the famed New York City Plaza Hotel, smashing furniture and destroying his room. When police arrived, they reported that Daniel was "naked, bloody and incoherent." He was arrested, then hospitalized; he later pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to three months of rehab to avoid jail.
In April 2006, Baldwin was arrested for cocaine possession after an incident at a Santa Monica, Calif., hotel, though charges weren't pursued.
Baldwin later confessed to People that his cocaine addiction started at a party in 1989, and that six months later, he was in rehab ... but it didn't stick. He says he first relapsed in 2005 after being prescribed Vicodin for a back injury, at which point he spiraled out of control and used alcohol, crack, and cocaine again.
In July 2006, he was arrested for driving with a suspended license after crashing into two parked cars while driving 80 miles per hour. That November, he was booked yet again, this time for alleged grand theft auto, and police found him disheveled and in possession of narcotics and paraphernalia. Charges were later dropped, although he told People that the incident drove him to rehab once more.
ABC News reported that by March 2008, Baldwin had been to rehab nine times.
Was Daniel Baldwin booted from Celebrity Rehab?
Daniel Baldwin appeared on Celebrity Rehab in 2008 as a mentor of sorts to the other patients, but he didn't stay there long.
The New York Post reported that Daniel, who was then "a married father of four," sent inappropriate and sexual messages to porn star and fellow Celebrity Rehab patient Mary Carey. Daniel claimed on air that Carey jumping into the pool in a white tank top and no bra made him and his wife uncomfortable to the point of needing to leave, but there may have been something more sinister at play: Carey accused Daniel of asking for photos of her and repeatedly asking about her career as an adult film star, despite her trying to distance herself from that part of her life on the reality series. It was also speculated (though never definitively revealed) that Daniel sent Carey inappropriate photos of himself after "lights out" at the Dr. Drew Pinsky and VH1-sponsored facility.
Daniel Baldwin's love life is a mess
His Celebrity Rehab drama aside, Daniel Baldwin's romantic life has been rough — He's "been married three times and has five children by four different women," according to The Mirror. Though his first marriage was relatively quiet, his second one had a whiff of scandal: He married actress Elizabeth Baldwin in 1990 and divorced her in 1996 — the same year he had a son named Atticus with his Homicide: Life On The Street co-star Isabella Hofmann. The Mirror also reported that Baldwin and Hofmann were rumored to have been "involved" for more than a decade.
That's nothing compared to his third marriage. Baldwin reportedly met Joanne Smith in a Malibu, Calif., rehab facility in 2006, where she worked as a chef. They married in 2007 and had two children and a ton of drama together.
In 2011, TMZ reported that Baldwin filed for divorce from Smith, citing her substance abuse issues as the cause. Baldwin also alleged that Smith threatened to kill him in front of their children and accused her of being physically abusive numerous times and going into "violent rages." Police were called after one incident, TMZ reported, and determined Smith was unfit to be around their children; Baldwin was granted temporary custody of their kids and a restraining order against her.
Smith was eventually sentenced to a brief jail stint, TMZ reported, and the couple called off their divorce — only to refile months later, citing irreconcilable differences. Yeesh.
Donald Trump's presidency divided the family
While Alec Baldwin is both an outspoken critic and impersonator of President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, his brother Stephen Baldwin is a big-time supporter of the Republican leader of the free world — and the brothers' differing political stances has caused a huge rift in their family.
In October 2016, Stephen told CBS News that he doesn't find the SNL sketches "very funny." Stephen also publicly beefed with his brother Billy over Twitter about Trump, admitting that Thanksgiving dinner may be pretty awkward that year and invoking their deceased father into their political disagreements. By December 2017, Stephen told The Hollywood Reporter that he hadn't spoken to Alec since the 2016 presidential election "by [Alec's] choice. We grew up in a dumb-jock, competitive, Friday Night Lights sort of environment, and I'm sorry but ... my guy won."
Stephen's daughter, model Hailey Baldwin, revealed that even within their immediate family unit, politics caused a lot of discord after Donald Trump was elected.
"That was a very hurtful situation for me," she told The Sunday Times in May 2018. "I love my father, he's an amazing dad, but we so strongly disagreed on [the election] ... He and my sister [Alaia] strongly disagreed on it. My sister's husband, like everyone on our side, just doesn't agree with him ... We don't talk about it now. It's not worth the argument."