Alec Baldwin's "Words with Friends" addiction gets him kicked off plane

Jemal Countess

(CBS) - Actor Alec Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines flight Tuesday after he refused to turn off his cell phone at Los Angeles International Airport.

Baldwin was playing the popular Scrabble-like game "Words with Friends" while waiting for the plane to take off. When he refused to turn off his phone, American Airlines left him at the gate.

Twitter/AlecBaldwin

Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt," Baldwin tweeted.

Tweets from Grant Cardone and Michael J. Wolf tipped off the "Twitterverserse" and the story began spreading immediately.

"Alec Baldwin is getting kicked off of AA flight as I tweet this!" tweeted Cardone at 1:13 p.m. PST.

"On an AA flight at LAX. Alec Baldwin removed from the plane. We had to go back to the gate. Terrible that everyone had to wait," Wolf tweeted moments later.

Baldwin's spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik, said the "30 Rock" actor was playing "Words with Friends" while the plane idled at the gate. "He loves 'Words with Friends' so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it," said Hiltzik.

Other passengers say he was actually talking on the phone, not just playing a game, reports CBS News correspondent Betty Nguyen. A crew member told the NY Post he was removed because he became "violent, aggressive" toward the staff.

Baldwin continued to taunt the airline by using the hashtag #theresalwaysunited. "United Airlines should buy Words With Friends," he tweeted.

American Airlines refused to make an official comment on the story, citing customer privacy, but they did tweet back at Baldwin.

"@AlecBaldwin Mr. Baldwin, we are looking into this. Please DM us contact information," the airline tweeted.

Eventually, the actor got onto another American Airlines flight to New York City with no other incident. We hope Zynga sends him a nice gift basket for all the free publicity.

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[Dr_Doc_dlcs]

Alec needs a good spanking. Also he needs to read the KJV Holy Bible. http://www.ufophenom.com/ and http://allinfected.blogspot.com/

[LelandWilliams]

Seriously, this guy needs his hide tanned.

[Rand_Y]

There is some truth in what he says. US carriers use old planes, old flight attendants and they definitely are not the friendly skies anymore. I still fly Delta because of Sky miles, otherwise I would always use a foreign carrier when possible. Airlines like ANA, JAL and EVA have new planes with beautiful young flight attendants. You have better seats with your own monitor. The flight attendants give great friendly service and they constantly clean the rest rooms with antiseptics. The food is way better too.

[uisignorant]

BS.... Being a Dick got him kicked off.

[shepodd]

He's a big baby. When they ask you to turn off your electronics, just do it.The flight attendants were doing their job.

[fedup2here]

Maybe he thought he was fighting his x-wife. Surprised he didn't hit the flight attendant like he did his ex-wife. Or maybe it was his daughter he thought he was arguing with. The man hasn't changed at all

[TrickyWV]

Alec..your fame has betrayed you. You are no better than anyone else on Earth. Follow the rules, please.

[Bojax39]

"Tweets from Grant Cardone and Michael J. Wolf tipped off the "Twitterverserse" and the story began spreading immediately. "

And what were they tweeting with, carrier pigeon? They should have been tossed as well.

[magnumdr]

I would think for what a ticket costs the staff would be happy to do whatever they could to make any customer happy. What a bunch of bean brains.

[Bojax39]

As to Baldwin, even while at the gate an aircraft has many instruments online which could be disrupted by electronic gear and put the craft at risk.

Here we have a self entitled ****** who thinks rules do not apply to him and puts his little game ahead of safety of all passengers. They were right to boot him off the plane.

[trust_2112]

Did he have an Alzheimer's moment? Or did he maybe think he was shooting a Capitol One commercial?