Alec Baldwin apologizes for 'RP mail-order bride' joke

CEBU, Philippines – Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin has issued an apology for joking that he might expand his family by “getting a Filipino mail-order bride ... or a Russian one” during an appearance on “The Late Show.”

“I’d like to offer an apology and a clarification to remarks I made recently,” the “30 Rock” star posted to his Huffington Post blog. “While on the David Letterman program, I joked that I might need a ‘mail-order bride’ to achieve the goal of having more children in my life. I believe that most people understood that this was a joke and took it as such. (A dated reference, no doubt, and another sign of my advancing age.) However, I do apologize to anyone who took offense.”

Though he insisted that he had no intention of offending anyone, Baldwin claimed he understood why some, including Senator Ramon Revilla, took such extreme exception to his humor given certain “significant problems” in the Philippines.

“The comments of some Philippine government officials come as no surprise to me, either,” Baldwin wrote. “Even the one by a former action film star-turned-Senator who beckoned me to come to the Philippines so he could ‘beat’ me over my comment. Such anger and frustration about the issue of sex trafficking is understandable.”