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Alec Baldwin Kicked Off Plane for Playing 'Words With Friends'

By Andrew Chow, Esq. on December 07, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Funnyman and frequent flyer Alec Baldwin was kicked off a plane for playing the "Words With Friends" game on his cell phone. Now American Airlines is fighting back on Facebook.

The "30 Rock" star was seated in first-class on a flight from Los Angeles to New York on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. The flight crew kicked Baldwin off the plane while it was still parked at the gate. Alec Baldwin is not facing charges, but a battle has ensued on Twitter and Facebook.

Details about what happened are in dispute. Baldwin sent a message to fans via Twitter immediately after the incident, saying: "Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing Words With Friends while we sat at the gate, not moving."

Alec Baldwin, an admitted "Words With Friends" addict, was booked on a later flight to New York.

American Airlines at first declined to comment, citing customer privacy. But this morning, the company felt compelled to respond to Baldwin's social-media bashings.

On its Facebook page, AA cited federal regulations that require passengers to comply with crew members' instructions to shut off their cell phones. Baldwin refused to comply, AA said, adding:

"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."

AA's post -- "liked" by more than 3,500 people in just three hours -- continues:

"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."

Rude? Alec Baldwin? Never... Though it appears the actor did ridicule AA's flight crew in another tweet Tuesday, saying American Airlines is "where Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950's find jobs as flight attendants."

The AP summarizes the Baldwin-vs.-AA controversy in a report you can watch here:

Words With Friends, in case you're wondering, is an online, Scrabble-like word game. Alec Baldwin, kicked off a plane and not happy about it, will apparently be taking his future business, and insults, elsewhere. He ended his tweet with the hashtag #theresalwaysunited.

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