I once ran into/met/became best friends with Alec Baldwin while in Central Park. My friend and I were walking around playing a game where we had to name famous actors without a signature role (there were no winners in said game), and he said, “Alec Baldwin.” (This was before “30 Rock” came out, and besides, I disagreed with him anyways, countering back with Blake from Glengarry Glen Ross.)
ANYWAYS. Not long after he called out Baldwin, I saw a suave older gentleman walking towards us with a gorgeous, younger woman at his side. I asked, “Is that…?” He turned around and said, “Yup.” As Alec Baldwin and his Babe walked by, either my friend or I said to him, “Hello,” and Baldwin replied back with, “Top o’ the morning.” IT WASN’T EVEN THE MORNING.
The point of this story: Alec Baldwin got kicked off an American Airlines flight yesterday, because he was playing Words with Friends, and deactivated his Twitter account.
It all began, accoring to Videogum, with Baldwin tweeting the following yesterday:
“Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt”
He followed that up with, “But, oddly, 30 Rock plays inflight on American. #theresalwaysunited” and “Last flight w American. Where retired Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950’s find jobs as flight attendants.” Heh.
Baldwin’s PR agent said something about how much his client loves Words with Friends (who today made “Alec” a playable word, meaning “Typically associated with ‘smart’ as its prefix to refer to a wise guy”). Boxer Oscar De La Hoya, who was on the same flight, told the LA Times, “I actually felt Alec Baldwin was turning off his devices, and he just got a little angry.” Then late last night, Baldwin told his 600,000+ Twitter followers to unfollow his account, and quicker than Liz Lemon can unhinge her jaw to eat a pizza pie, @AlecBaldwin was gone.
American Airlines’ official statement, released via their Facebook account, pins them as the Billy Baldwin fans I knew they were all along:
“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.” (Via CBS)
I don’t know why or how, but I blame Tracy Morgan’s homophobic rant for this.
(Thank you to Nadia for the Photoshop)
