Alec Baldwin kicked off LA flight for playing game

[December 07, 2011]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A flight attendant was the subject of a Twitter tirade from Alec Baldwin after the actor was booted from a plane at Los Angeles International Airport for playing a word game on his cellphone as the plane was about to depart for New York.

The "30 Rock" actor was playing a game called "Words with Friends" while the plane idled at a gate Tuesday, said Baldwin's spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik.

"He loves 'Words with Friends' so much that he was willing to leave a plane for it," said Hiltzik, who added that Baldwin boarded another American Airlines flight to New York.

Baldwin, a prolific Twitter user, took to the social media site to vent, saying a "flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing Words With Friends while we sat at the gate, not moving."

Baldwin tweeted that it would be his last flight with American, despite the fact that they show "30 Rock" for in-flight entertainment.

He mocked American Airlines flight attendants on Twitter, saying the airline is "where Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950's find jobs as flight attendants."

It wasn't clear if passengers had been asked to turn off their cellphones, which is typical before a flight backs away from the terminal.

American Airlines spokesman Ed Martelle declined comment, citing customer privacy concerns.

Airport police Sgt. Belinda Nettles said officers did not respond to the incident.

Baldwin called "Words With Friends" an "addicting" game. Players compete online to score the most points by building words with tiles on a Scrabble-like game board.

Baldwin plays the role of executive Jack Donaghy on "30 Rock" and played an amorous ex-husband to Meryl Streep in the 2009 romantic comedy "It's Complicated."

[Associated Press; By SHAYA TAYEFE MOHAJER]

Shaya Tayefe Mohajer can be reached at http://twitter.com/APShaya. AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang contributed to this report and can be reached at http://twitter.com/DerrikJLang.

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