The Complicated Life of Hollywood Star Alec Baldwin

On December 6, 2011, Baldwin was removed from an American Airlines flight at Los Angeles International Airport after a dispute involving his phone. Reports said the issue began when he was playing Words With Friends and did not turn off his device as requested.

The incident quickly became a widely covered celebrity travel controversy, partly because it fit the public image of Baldwin as talented but easily pulled into confrontations. It was a strange, almost comic headline, but it kept his temper in the spotlight.