Alec Baldwin Apologizes

In an appearance on The View taped Wednesday, Alec Baldwin offered an emotional apology for his voicemail towards his 11 year-old daughter, PEOPLE has learned.

"Obviously calling your child a pig or anything else is improper and inappropriate and I apologize to my daughter for that," Baldwin said on the show, which is scheduled to air Friday.

"There's nothing wrong with being frustrated or angry about the situation," added Baldwin. "It's the way you do it, and as people often do in this world, I took it out on the wrong person."

Baldwin, 46, whose battle with ex-wife Kim Basinger took a very public turn last week when his voicemail to daughter Ireland was leaked on TMZ.com, did not say whether he has talked to his daughter since the voicemail hit the Web. But he insisted the incident was isolated.

"In my own case, with this message, I had never done this before in my life," he said.

Baldwin also added that he has asked NBC to release him from his contract for 30 Rock because he doesn't want the show or its cast and crew to be negatively affected by him.

"If I never acted again I couldn't care less," he told the audience. "I would like to devote myself to the cause of parental alienation," which is a subject Baldwin says he's writing a book about.

For her part, Basinger has said through her rep that she hopes her ex will curb his "irrational behavior." "It is Kim's sincerest wish is for [Alec] to finally address his unstable and irrational behavior so he, at some point can potentially create a relationship with his daughter."

After the show, audience members told PEOPLE they were conflicted about Baldwin's mea culpa. "There's two sides to every story," one audience member said. "So he gave his side, but his ex-wife should have her chance to give her side, too."

Said another audience member: "We did feel sorry for him. He made us understand his point of view."