Alec Baldwin is a terrific actor whose 30 Rock quotes always make us laugh on Thursdays and who seems like an upstanding, grounded guy in real life.

Relationships with his ex-wife and daughter have been tumultuous, however.

In the latest chapter, Alec was hospitalized briefly after his 14-year-old offspring Ireland Baldwin couldn't reach him and the worried teen called 911.

But Skip Basinger, brother of Alec's ex-wife Kim Basinger, tells People it was just a misunderstanding blown out of proportion and not an attempt to embarrass him.

Ireland was in L.A. and her father was at his Manhattan apartment when they argued over the phone on Thursday, February 11, according to Skip:

"Ireland was talking to her dad and they got into an argument. He got upset. She tried to call him back and couldn't reach him, so she called 911."

Alec Baldwin was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital before being released just hours later. A source said a big factor was him threatening to take pills.

"It was a simple little thing, a misunderstanding," Basinger says about his niece's decision to call 911. Alec and Ireland "talk all the time," he says.

"Ireland calls him, he calls her. Ireland loves her dad. But kids and their dads are always arguing. Have you ever tried to raise a teenager?"

Skip says Alec has better control of his famous temper after ... well, you know. "After the voicemail incident, he learned to restrain himself."