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Thanks, Alec Baldwin: American Airlines may stop showing ’30 Rock’

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Alec Baldwin’s recent on-flight freakout could possibly result in American Airlines entirely removing his show “30 Rock” from the line-up of in-flight entertainment, reports Reuters. The potential move comes after Baldwin wrote a letter in the Huffington Post in which he apologized to the passenger aboard the flight that he was kicked off of, but scolded an AA flight attendant for acting like a “1950’s gym teacher.”

An American Airlines spokesperson told Reuters that there have “been some discussions” about the possible removal of “30 Rock,” of which Baldwin is a star,, but says that the talk hasn’t exactly been “formal.” The Association of Professional Flight Attendants union says that it has no plans to aggressively support the removal of “30 Rock.”

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If you don’t see “30 Rock” on your next flight, however, it doesn’t mean the show’s been removed entirely.

“NBC routinely rotates programs on and off what is offered onboard, and not all programing is the same on every flight,” said an AA spokesperson. “At this time, ’30 Rock’ continues to air on some of our flights, but not others, which is our standard programming procedure.”

The Baldwin debacle started after the actor was allegedly reproached for using his smartphone while the plane was still at the gate — he was playing Words With Friends — but after the flight attendants had asked that passengers put away their electronic devices. Baldwin says that he “was singled out by this woman in the most unpleasant of tones,” while other nearby passengers were allowed to continue using their phones.

Baldwin expressed his frustration both aloud on the plane, as well as on Twitter, where he posted tweets with the hashtag “#nowonderamericaairisbankrupt,” referring to the airline’s recent financial woes. Eventually, Baldwin was kicked off the flight, causing it to be delayed even further.

Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
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