He infamously abused his daughter Ireland, then 11, in a phone message in 2007, leaked to the media after she didn’t answer her phone when she knew he would be making his scheduled call. “You are a rude, thoughtless little pig,” he spat at the daughter he had with ex-wife Kim Basinger. “Once again I have made an ass of myself trying to get to a phone. You have humiliated me for the last time with this phone.”

But at 55, having honed his uncanny comedic timing on Emmy-winning show 30 Rock, and married yoga teacher Hilaria, 29, last year, Baldwin seemed to have found his happy place.

Now, he has even more reason to celebrate. “We are overjoyed to announce the birth of our daughter Carmen Gabriela,” Hilaria tweeted on Aug. 23. “She is absolutely perfect.”

Carmen’s half-sister, model Ireland, now 17, wrote an open letter titled “Happy Birthday” on Tumblr. “Remember that your parents will always love you; Walk away; Enjoy your childhood and your teenage years; You are beautiful; Alcohol, weed and parties, oh my; Don’t say yes to everything; Tell the truth; Be careful who you trust; School is cool; and Dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuun … boys.
“I love you, Carmen,” she wrapped up. “You have been born into one crazy family. You are both lucky and cursed at the same time. We are going to have so much fun together. I can’t wait to meet you soon. I promise you I will always be there for you no matter what! Never forget!”

As for the girls’ father, who said he was looking forward to being a stay-at-home dad and “standing in the doorway, saying goodbye to Mommy,” he apologised soon after that leaked phone message to Ireland and blamed the call, and the leak, on his toxic relationship with his ex. “I’m sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child,” he wrote on his web site. “I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now. You have to go through this to understand. (Although I hope you never do.) I am sorry for what happened.”