In this Feb. 4, 2012 file photo, host Alec Baldwin speaks during the inaugural NFL Honors show in Indianapolis.Marcio Sanchez/The Associated Press
Don't you just hate it when people compare you to your parents?
Ireland Baldwin knows just the feeling. The 17-year-old daughter of Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin says she receives plenty of negative remarks from people about her looks (although it's hard to imagine finding any physical flaws on the gorgeous, leggy teen model). But according to Jezebel, Baldwin's biggest complaint is having people compare her with her beautiful Oscar-winning mother and remind her of an ugly phone recording, leaked in 2007, in which her father called her a "rude, thoughtless little pig."
"I AM NOT MY PARENTS," Ireland wrote in a post on Tumblr. "My mom is one of the most beautiful woman in the world. She is 5'9, I am 6'2. She is petite and fragile, and I am fit and. …more to love tehe. I have a booty, she has a thigh gap. As she emerged from her teen years, she developed an angular face and striking cheekbones. I am still a teen making my way out of my awkward phase."
As for her father, Ireland defends him by saying he has made mistakes. "He has spoken out of place, he has let his temper get the best of him, and he has reacted toward things in ways he shouldn't have," she wrote, adding that it's unfair to make hateful comments about his past.
"I am proud to be my parent's [sic] daughter, but I don't want to forever be known as 'that rude thoughtless little pig' or 'Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger's kid.' I have passions and interests of my own that I want to soon give life to."
Of course, it's not hard to sympathize with Ireland's plight. Who wouldn't want to be judged on his or her own merits?
But as anyone who's ever had a formidable parent (never mind two) will tell you, it can be close to impossible to entirely step out of that parent's shadow. Just ask Justin Trudeau.
That's not to say that the children of celebrities can't match or surpass their parents' achievements, or strike their own path. (Think of the Douglas brothers and their father Kirk, or Angelina Jolie and her father Jon Voight.) But sorry, Ireland, until you become more famous than your mom and dad, you're stuck with being known as "Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger's kid."
Wency Leung