Daniel Baldwin says marriage threatened sobriety

by Taryn Davies | 2 November 2011

Daniel Baldwin has spoken out about his split from wife Joanne, insisting the troubled marriage was threatening his sobriety.

The Mulholland Falls star filed for divorce earlier this year only to dismiss his petition and work on the marriage in August.

But now his wife his filed for divorce and the actor accepts he's better off as a single man, looking after the couple's kids.

Baldwin, who met his wife while he was receiving treatment in a rehab facility in 2007, claims Joanne's drinking was becoming a problem for him.

He tells E! News: "There have been situations that have arisen in my life with my relationship with Joanne that put my sobriety in great peril."

The actor alleges his wife's drinking problem was what led him to first file for divorce - and a restraining order - in July.

He explains: "She had too much to drink that evening. This escalated to my waking up to the house being trashed... The kids (woke) up, crying. They don't understand what's going on. My daughter inevitably hears just about everything said in that house.

"There was a heated statement about taking my life, a threat, and my child reiterated that: 'Is Mommy going to kill us?' And when she asked me that question, I had such a sunken (feeling)... A child should never... have to ask that question."

The incident reminded Baldwin of a chat he had with his former sister-in-law, Kim Basinger, after she split from brother Alec - about what not to say in front of their daughter, Ireland.

He recalls: "I had a conversation with Kim when I said, 'He's (Alec) the greatest father, he loves his daughter... Go into the courtroom and cut his head off, if that's what you think you need to do, but in front of that child, none of that should come out.'"

Now he can only hope his divorce battle will be quick, painless and kept away from his daughters: "My hope and my prayer for this whole situation is for us to move on and be co-parenting with our children in the best possible way we can and never let them see any of this stuff again."