Alec Baldwin uses excuse of scientifically discredited Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) on 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer

Posted on Nov 17, 2008 by Hofheimer Family Law

On Friday, September 19, 2008, Alec Baldwin appeared on a 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer to promote his book. Blaming his outrageous voice mail message to his daughter and his multi-million dollar divorce litigation on the scientifically discredited theory of "Parental Alienation Syndrome," Baldwin attempted to portray himself as a victim of former wife Kim Basinger, and as a victim of his daughter. Interviewer Diane Sawyer did not fall for Baldwin's self-portrayal as a victim, and asked Baldwin difficult questions, to which he attempted to object off-camera. Sawyer turned the camera
s back on and confronted Baldwin about his off-camera accusations that Sawyer was being biased against him. Both Baldwin and Sawyer alluded to Baldwin storming off several times during the interview. Baldwin was visibly agitated and sweating during the interview, and did not have a good answer for Sawyer's question to him about the impact on his daughter of Baldwin's book, and his vilification of Basinger in the book. Professor Joan Meier did an excellent job addressing the fact that Parental Alienation Syndrome is not accepted as a valid syndrome within the scientific community.