Alec Baldwin explained himself on his website Friday, as the angry telephone message he left to his 11-year-old daughter was being broadcast around the world.

"Although I have been told by numerous people not to worry too much, as all parents lose their patience with their kids, I am most saddened that this was released to the media because of what it does to a child," the 49-year-old actor wrote.

"I'm sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child. I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now … I am sorry for what happened."

The voicemail message, in which Baldwin is heard calling his daughter "a rude, thoughtless little pig," was published Thursday by celebrity news site TMZ.com.

Baldwin and his ex-wife, actor Kim Basinger, have been engaged in bitter custody disputes over their daughter, Ireland, since the couple divorced in 2002.

"In such public cases, your opponents attempt to take a picture of you on your worst day and insist that this is who you are as a person," Baldwin wrote.

"Outside the doors of divorce court, I have friends, I have respect from people I work with and I have a normal relationship with my daughter. All of that is threatened whenever one enters a courtroom."

Looking at tape leak

Baldwin's attorney, Vicki Greene, said she filed a Superior Court order Friday to determine how the tape got leaked and whether actions should be taken against Basinger, her lawyers or Harvey Levin, who runs TMZ.com.

Greene called Levin on Thursday after learning he intended to go public with the tape. She then wrote Levin a letter, which is included in the Superior Court order.

"I cautioned you against taking any action, especially when what you disclosed to me could only have been obtained from an improper source, was sealed by the Court and should not be in your possession, let alone disclosed to the public," she said in the letter.

Levin told the Associated Press on Friday that he obtained the tape legally.

"I'm not going to talk about sources. I'm not going to say who we obtained it from," he said. "We obtained this legally. We discussed it, and felt it was an important story, and published it. If she disagrees, that's her opinion."