Alec Baldwin's Twitter Meltdown Results In A Deactivated Account

Here's yet another public celebrity meltdown on Twitter, for those who love to watch the rich and famous crash and burn: Alec Baldwin ranted about his treatment aboard a recent American Airlines flight on Twitter, flinging insults at the company, and eventually shutting down his Twitter account under the guise of "focusing on 30 Rock for now"... yeah right. It all started like this: Baldwin was flying American Airlines earlier this week, and had a little run-in with a flight attendant. The attendant asked him to put his phone away, but he wouldn't, and he was eventually ejected from the flight. And how do we know all this? Twitter, of course! Baldwin documented his "unfair" treatment (fairness is really in the eye of the beholder, as American Airlines claims they were simply following policy) through several tweets on Tuesday, including the following (courtesy of the National Post; original tweets have since been deleted from the account): "Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving. #nowonderamericaairisbankrupt" "#theresalwaysunited Last flight w American. Where retired Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950's find jobs as flight attendants." Baldwin says that he was then ejected from the plane, all because he wouldn't turn off Words With Friends on his phone while still at the gate. American Airlines was quick to tweet a response to the actor's complaints, first asking Baldwin to DM them information about the incident and subsequently tweeting that their "flight attendants were following federal safety procedures on electronic devices." They also went on record as saying that he refused to turn off his phone, eventually locking himself in the bathroom in order to continue to use it. And now this whole fiasco has sent Baldwin running from Twitter. MSNBC reports that Baldwin gave his followers a hint that he would be leaving Twitter on Tuesday night after the exchange with American Airlines, reportedly tweeting: "Let's play a game called Mass Unfollowing. I want to crash this acct and start again. But, tonight at 10 PM, NY time, unfollow me." And since this morning, his account has been deactivated, as you can see by visiting @alecbaldwin or checking out the screenshot below: Our intrepid colleague Alex Weprin (@alexweprin) reached out to Baldwin's PR agency on Twitter (@HiltzikStrat) about the fiasco, and they had this to say about his abrupt departure: So, for the time being, it looks like Baldwin has been turned off Twitter and its open, public nature. However, the fact that he wanted to "crash this account and start again" might indicate that he'll be back in another incarnation - perhaps letting his PR agency take care of his tweeting in the future. (Top image: Petrunovskyi via Shutterstock)

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Alec Baldwin's Twitter Meltdown Results In A Deactivated Account

Lauren Dugan

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Lauren Dugan