Emmy-winning actor Alec Baldwin blew a gasket Thursday and attacked a photographer while police and a pack of reporters looked on with amazement.
"This guy! This guy!" the actor yelled as he burst out of a lobby and grabbed New York Post photographer Tim Wiencis by the collar. Cops immediately pulled the actor off Wiencis and hustled him back inside.
A witness said Baldwin was pacing around the lobby muttering: "They are the lowest scum of the Earth. They are the lowest scum of the Earth."
Meanwhile, an incredulous Wiencis told cops, "He just assaulted me."
No charges were filed.
Baldwin's bizarre outburst capped a day that began at 12:55 a.m., when he was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital after his 14-year-old daughter, Ireland, dialed 911, sources said.
"I'm tired of this," Baldwin said, his daughter told the dispatcher. "I'm going to take some pills. I'm going to end this."
When cops arrived at Baldwin's pad on Central Park West, the actor told them he took an Ambien sleeping pill and had "no intention" of committing suicide, sources said.
Baldwin, who is due to emcee the Oscars on March 7, told cops he and Ireland had been arguing over the phone and that his daughter was "put up" to dial 911 by her mom, actress Kim Basinger, sources said.
Still, cops had Baldwin checked out and doctors released him after deciding he was no threat to himself, sources said.
When the "30 Rock" star returned home, he found reporters on his doorstep.
"This is another example of Kim's sickness," a buddy of Baldwin's told the Daily News. "Alec came back from the hospital and there were cameras outside his house at 2 a.m. Gee, I wonder how they found out?"
Baldwin went to work at 7 a.m., and when he came home around 5:30 p.m. the reporters were still there.
It was then that Wiencis lightly tapped Baldwin on the arm and the actor exploded, according to witnesses.
"Don't touch me!" Baldwin yelled. "I'm calling the cops!"
There was no comment from Basinger, whose divorce from Baldwin has been a Hollywood horror show that has left their daughter torn between warring parents.
Baldwin and Ireland also have had a rocky relationship, a fact that was revealed in spectacular fashion when a voice mail of the actor calling his spawn a "rude, thoughtless little pig" was leaked in 2007.
"This guy! This guy!" the actor yelled as he burst out of a lobby and grabbed New York Post photographer Tim Wiencis by the collar. Cops immediately pulled the actor off Wiencis and hustled him back inside.
A witness said Baldwin was pacing around the lobby muttering: "They are the lowest scum of the Earth. They are the lowest scum of the Earth."
Meanwhile, an incredulous Wiencis told cops, "He just assaulted me."
No charges were filed.
Baldwin's bizarre outburst capped a day that began at 12:55 a.m., when he was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital after his 14-year-old daughter, Ireland, dialed 911, sources said.
"I'm tired of this," Baldwin said, his daughter told the dispatcher. "I'm going to take some pills. I'm going to end this."
When cops arrived at Baldwin's pad on Central Park West, the actor told them he took an Ambien sleeping pill and had "no intention" of committing suicide, sources said.
Baldwin, who is due to emcee the Oscars on March 7, told cops he and Ireland had been arguing over the phone and that his daughter was "put up" to dial 911 by her mom, actress Kim Basinger, sources said.
Still, cops had Baldwin checked out and doctors released him after deciding he was no threat to himself, sources said.
When the "30 Rock" star returned home, he found reporters on his doorstep.
"This is another example of Kim's sickness," a buddy of Baldwin's told the Daily News. "Alec came back from the hospital and there were cameras outside his house at 2 a.m. Gee, I wonder how they found out?"
Baldwin went to work at 7 a.m., and when he came home around 5:30 p.m. the reporters were still there.
It was then that Wiencis lightly tapped Baldwin on the arm and the actor exploded, according to witnesses.
"Don't touch me!" Baldwin yelled. "I'm calling the cops!"
There was no comment from Basinger, whose divorce from Baldwin has been a Hollywood horror show that has left their daughter torn between warring parents.
Baldwin and Ireland also have had a rocky relationship, a fact that was revealed in spectacular fashion when a voice mail of the actor calling his spawn a "rude, thoughtless little pig" was leaked in 2007.