BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Kim Basinger's spokeswoman said Monday the Oscar-winning actress has hired "security in response to the media attention" sparked by the public release of an angry voice-mail message by former husband Alec Baldwin to their 11-year-old daughter, Ireland.

    The divorced couple's six-year custody battle over their only daughter erupted last Thursday into public view after the disclosure by website TMZ.com of a recording of a phone message Baldwin had left Ireland in which he called her a "rude, thoughtless little pig."

    Baldwin, 49, who co-stars as a venal, egocentric TV executive on the NBC sitcom "30 Rock," said on the tape he was furious at not being able to reach his daughter for a prearranged telephone conversation, and threatened to fly out from New York City "to straighten your ass out."

    "Kim did hire security in response to the media attention on her daughter in order to allow Ireland to maintain her regular routine and activities uninterrupted," spokeswoman Annett Wolf said.

    Baldwin later apologized for his temper-tantrum with a statement on his own website, and accused his ex-wife of leaking the voice mail tape to the media in defiance of a court order sealing material related to their custody proceedings.

    But Wolf issued a statement on Monday denying the actress released the voice mail and said the recording was "not sealed under a court order."

    TMZ reported a Los Angeles County Superior Court commissioner temporarily suspended Baldwin's visitation rights last week after hearing the tape.

    Representatives for Basinger, 53, who won the Oscar for her supporting role in the 1997 film "L.A. Confidential," declined to comment on that report, and Baldwin's lawyer was not immediately available for comment.

    (Agencies)