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American Airlines: Alec Baldwin Threw A Famous-Person Tantrum On Flight

120711alec.jpg In the midst of the most important story of our time, Alec Baldwin's spokesman wants us to know that getting the boot from an American Airlines flight was just Alec being Alec. "Alec loves Words With Friends so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it," flack Matthew Hilzik tells the Daily News. And fellow famous-person Oscar De La Hoya, who was on the flight from LAX to JFK, tweeted "I think the flight attendant over reacted…@AlecBaldwin was doing nothing wrong but playing 'words' on his phone." But couldn't this just be some celebrity Omertá? According to American Airlines, Baldwin was acting like a thoughtless little pig.

The bankrupt airline took to Facebook earlier today to recount their version of events, which are totally out of character for Alec Baldwin:

Since an extremely vocal customer has publicly identified himself as being removed from an American Airlines flight on Tuesday, Dec. 6, we have elected to provide the actual facts of the matter as well as the FAA regulations which American, and all airlines, must enforce. Cell phones and electronic devices are allowed to be used while the aircraft is at the gate and the door is open for boarding. When the door is closed for departure and the seat belt light is turned on, all cell phones and electronic devices must be turned off for taxi-out and take-off. This passenger declined to turn off his cell phone when asked to do so at the appropriate time. The passenger ultimately stood up (with the seat belt light still on for departure) and took his phone into the plane’s lavatory. He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed, even with the cockpit door closed and locked. They immediately contacted the cabin crew to check on the situation. The passenger was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language. Given the facts above, the passenger was removed from the flight and denied boarding.

Steve Weiss, a non-celebrity passenger on the flight, corroborates this version of events. “He got up, threw his papers on the floor and stormed into the bathroom, slammed the door closed, beat on the wall and then came back,” Weiss told the Post. “He said, ‘If you want to kick me off, kick me off.’ He was just crazy. He just flipped out.” Another account has him talking on the phone, not playing games.

Director Kevin Smith, no stranger to airline rage & rejection, tweeted, "In 1999, I worked with @AlecBaldwin on the CLERKS cartoon. We made this bet about who could get booted off an airplane more spectacularly…" We still say Kevin wins.

After a rash of cheeky tweets last night, Baldwin instructed his followers to "unfollow" him and then deactivated his Twitter account. Are these the actions of an innocent man? Why don't we hear about Daniel Baldwin getting kicked off planes? Is it because he's just nicer and more respectful a person, and therefore a better actor? Then again, everyone knows that the order to "turn off your electronic devices at take off and landing or else the wings will fall off" order is horseshit. Will this incident help us reclaim those missing six minutes of our lives in which we're not allowed to be using our cellphones?

One thing is certain: TMZ probably should have sent a more seasoned intern to meet Baldwin at JFK Airport.

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Comments [rss]

  • Peanut_Butter

    What a dick.  I love him as an actor and just yesterday, I saw the clip of him on Conan.  But if I were sitting near him, we'd definitely have words.  What a piece of .... how about some basic courtesy, dude?  Turn off you goddamn device for one minute when asked.  It's that simple.

  • Gwinny

    Wow, that TMZ guy was pathetic. Hey, man.

  • Manhattan Snob

    Phones cause plenty of interference. Put your phone by your desktop speakers and wait for a text or email. What will you hear?

    !@#$%^&*&%^$#@$%^%$@#!@$%^%&^%#$%^$

    coming from them. It sounds like you've found the "signal" from invading space aliens. I'm sure if your seat is directly above an airline antenna it does NOTHING to it. NOTHING!

    This is just the self-entitled "I gotta have what I want, NOW" at play.

    Just turn your damn phone off and chill out for a while.

  • ktinnyc

    Michael Altschul, senior vice president and legal counsel for CTIA, the wireless industry association, said a study that it conducted more than a decade ago found no interference from mobile devices.
    “The fact is, the radio frequencies that are assigned for aviation use are separate from commercial use,” Mr. Altschul said. “Plus, the wiring and instruments for aircraft are shielded to protect them from interference from commercial wireless devices.”

    Mr. Dorr (a spokesman for the F.A.A) reluctantly agreed. “There have never been any reported accidents from these kinds of devices on planes,” he said.

    http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/...

  • Guest

    armed with this type of entitled crybaby behavior, Alec will fit right in as our next mayor.

  • Obamatheracist

    Typical pompous liberal jackass

  • Guest

    sorry to burst your bubble, but Rush Limbaugh has had the pompous jackass market cornered for years.

  • seattlesnow

    Limbaugh also has his own jet 

  • theevilerone

    I hope he at least hit a triple word score.

  • BBnet3000
  • mattbrooklyn

    I feel like I am frequently sitting next to some idiot dude with a Ceasar cut who can't bear to turn off his phone.  And in those cases, the flight attendants rarely do anything.  When they say something, the dude just turns the phone over, as if not being able to see the screen turns the phone off. 

    Sounds like Baldwin was being a pain, but clearly AA's people were a little touchy.  

  • I think the big issue was his temper tantrum in the bathroom. The pilots heard the ruckus, and understandably got concerned that it was something more serious. 

  • nunyadamn

    Once he stood up and went to the bathroom he established that he wasn't going to comply so yeah throw his ass off.

  • ktinnyc

    Hey Fight Attendents, You ain't nothing but a waitress in the sky.

  • whiteiris

    Yeah, that's telling em.

  • taracorinne

    Flight Attendants don't follow FAA rules because they feel like having power.  They follow these rules or the get fired.

  • Colonel_Ingus

    Who has been trained in CPR, rescue techniques and the defense of your life.

  • ktinnyc

    Not a big music fan, huh?

  • Colonel_Ingus

    Jazzman.  Sorry.

  • Gothamist_Cynic

    Such BS. They don't tell you turn off your phones until they're about to take off.

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