Alec Baldwin has voiced 'regret' that his bitter custody battle with ex-wife Kim Basinger had such a negative impact on their daughter Ireland Baldwin.

The Hollywood actor, 66, was married to Kim, 71, from 1993 to 2002 and welcomed his first born in 1995.

But marital bliss wasn't to last and Alec entered into a messy and high-profile divorce from Kim in 2002, with the pair fighting for custody in court.

While Alec has a good relationship with Ireland now, he admitted that the 'tough' split from her mother had lasting effects on her.

Speaking in the latest episode of his TLC reality show The Baldwins, he said: 'I must say that because my relationship with my daughter Ireland was so negatively impacted by my divorce from her mother and having a very protracted custody battle that the media really were having a party about everything.

'It went on for seven years, of which the financials were probably a year and a half and everything else was custody.

'That's insanity and really tough.'

He continued: 'One of my most regrettable things about the whole thing was how it affected Ireland.

'But Ireland is grown. She's 28 years old. I have a good relationship with her.

'She loves the kids. She's very sweet to them and she's their older sister, but she's not in that pack.'

Alec is now married to Hilaria Baldwin and the pair share seven children together.  

Earlier this week, his ex-wife Kim praised him and stated they have a 'great relationship.'

While their marriage was turbulent, nowadays the pair enjoy a much better relationship, and Kim raved about him in an interview with Variety, revealing she has 'great respect' for him.

'Alec and I have a great relationship. I have great respect for where he is today, and his family.

'You know, we don't spend Christmases and holidays or see each other very much. But we talk.

'He'll pick up the phone and call me, and we have a very genuinely cordial and I think loving relationship in a lot of ways, just because we share a daughter, and I don't wish him anything but everything good.'

'He's been through a lot lately,' she said, appearing to reference the death of cinematographer Haylna Hutchins.

Kim also praised Alec's wife Hilaria Baldwin, adding: 'But Hilaria seems to have a great handle on that. So more power to her.'

The high words come nearly 18 years after Alec infamously left their then 11-year-old Ireland a ranting voicemail, after she did not answer the phone when she knew he was due to call from New York.

The It's Complicated star called his daughter 'a rude, thoughtless little pig' in the leaked voice message and told her: 'You don't have the brains or the decency as a human being.'

He went on: 'I don't give a damn that you're 12 years old, or 11 years old, or that you're a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the a** who doesn't care about what you do as far as I'm concerned.

'Once again I have made an a** of myself trying to get to a phone. You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone.'