Ireland Baldwin Reveals She Had a ‘Lonely Childhood’

Ireland Baldwin is reflecting on her life ahead of her 30th birthday.

In a post on her personal substack, the 29-year-old daughter of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger reflected on her life thus far as she nears her milestone birthday. Ireland wrote that as she nears 30 years old, there’s a “lot less weight” on her shoulders, which she attributes to letting go of “the need to continue to carry my narcissistic, unreliable, addict family members who I thought I needed in my life.”

“I grew up without two parents in my home and no siblings to turn to. I had a lonely childhood at times, which is why I grew up feeling like I needed to win over certain people in my own family,” she recalled. “For whatever reason, their validation and praise was meaningful to me.”

“Nothing was more freeing than finally realizing how poisonous these people are,” she added. “So I inch into my thirties with an understanding that this is how you break these cycles. My daughter doesn’t have to know these people and I can protect her from them. I can do my very best to construct my own idea of a family, piece by piece. And show how a real family treats one another.”

The model-turned-writer’s parents were married from 1993 to 2002. Ireland was only 7 when her parents divorced. She found herself in the center of a public and acrimonious split when an angry voicemail Alec left for Ireland was made public, causing her father to temporarily lose visitation rights.

“Divorce is hard on a kid, no matter how you cut it. And ours was very public and nasty,” Basinger told The Edit by Net-A-Porter in 2016. “So I brought up Ireland in a very unconventional way. I just wanted her to be free. If she wanted to have her friends over and write over the walls with pen, that was fine. … I wanted her childhood to be full of love and light and animals and friends.”

During a 2022 appearance with her daughter on Red Table Talk, Basinger recalled to Jada Pinkett Smith that she and Alec didn’t always see “eye to eye” when it came to co-parenting.

“Alec’s a funny one. We’re all fine and we all get along, whatever. But … he’s a challenge,” she said. “We’ve had our challenges. And I don’t think Alec was emotionally or mentally available for that kind of talk.”

Challenges aside, Ireland has developed a close bond with both of her parents, and regularly spends quality team with her blended family, which includes Alec’s seven children with his wife Hilaria Baldwin. The extended Baldwin family grew even more when Ireland gave birth to her daughter, Holland, in May 2023. Holland is Alec and Kim’s first grandchild.

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In May, Ireland commemorated her daughter Holland’s second birthday with a farm-themed birthday celebration.

Recapping the day’s activities on Instagram, the doting mom shared several snaps, including adorable snaps of the 2-year-old, whom she welcomed with boyfriend RAC (born André Allen Anjos) interacting with the animals and posing with family members, like her grandma.

“Celebrated Holland’s 2nd at @triskeleefarm with our people 🩷🩷🩷.”