People: Between ‘Rock’ and a hard place
Divorced dad Alec Baldwin, caught yelling at his daughter in a voicemail message, has asked NBC to let him out of his “30 Rock” contract so he can work on “parental alienation” issues.
“If I never acted again I couldn’t care less,” Baldwin says in a pre-taped segment scheduled to air today on the ABC talk show “The View.”
But the network says it isn’t about to let him leave the freshman sitcom, which was recently renewed for a second season.
Since their 2002 divorce, Baldwin and ex-wife Kim Basinger have been embroiled in a custody dispute over daughter Ireland, 11.
Last week, a telephone message surfaced with Baldwin berating her as a “rude, thoughtless little pig” for missing his call.
Baldwin says in the “View” segment that he’s writing a book about divorce litigation and wants to take “three years or five years, it doesn’t matter” to focus on the problem of divorced parents and their children.
As for acting, he adds: “I’ve had enough of this quite frankly to last me a lifetime, especially in the modern tabloid world. … (T)here’s a bigger thing I want to do, there’s a more important thing I want to do.”
Don’t look back in anger
“The View,” of course, made headlines earlier this week when Rosie O’Donnell announced she was leaving the ABC daytime talk show – almost a year after original co-host Star Jones Reynolds was canned.
She says she hasn’t watched the show since, calling it “a different part of my life and a different chapter.”
“I said, ‘Step back Star. Re-evaluate yourself. Re-evaluate your career. What do you really want to be your legacy and your contribution,’ ” says Reynolds, who will host an upcoming Court TV talk show.
Back home where the heart is
Regis Philbin returned to “Live With Regis and Kelly” on Thursday, but says he’s still not at 100 percent six weeks after his triple heart bypass surgery.
The audience cheered as Philbin, 75, walked onto the set with co-host Kelly Ripa.
“My chest hurts,” he told reporters afterward. “People keep telling me, ‘Hey, you look great.’ I don’t feel that great, but I’m happy to be here.”
Smashed, mashed, baked
Finally, from the celebrity police beat:
“Rapper-actress Eve was arrested for investigation of driving under the influence after she crashed a Maserati in Hollywood early Thursday.
“A court in India has issued arrest warrants for actor Richard Gere and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, saying that his kissing her on the cheek during a recent HIV/AIDs awareness event “transgressed all limits of vulgarity” under the country’s strict laws.
“Hugh Grant has been arrested for allegedly throwing a container of baked beans at a photographer in London. The paparazzo told the Daily Star tabloid that Grant kicked him and shouted abuse before hurling the beans.
The birthday bunch
Actor Jack Klugman is 85. Announcer Casey Kasem is 75. Actress Judy Carne is 68. Guitarist Ace Frehley (Kiss) is 56. Singer Sheena Easton is 48. Actor James Le Gros (“Ally McBeal”) is 45. Singer-guitarist Travis Meeks (Days of the New) is 28.