Up, up and away: six starry passengers kicked off planes

WHAT is it about celebrities being thrown off planes? Alec Baldwin is the latest culprit. He was kicked off an American Airlines flight at Los Angeles airport for refusing to turn off his iPad. The 30 Rock actor was playing a computer game akin to Scrabble called Words With Friends. According to his spokesman, he loves it so much he was prepared to be thrown off a plane for the sake of finishing the game. And Baldwin is not the only one to be sent back to the departure gate…
 
Gerard Depardieu

The French star of Jean de Florette and Green Card was caught short on a Paris-to-Dublin flight this summer after the seatbelt sign was switched on for take-off. With no access to the toilets, the 62-year-old tried to relieve himself into an empty Evian bottle at the back of the plane but ended up urinating on the floor, causing a two-hour delay while staff cleaned the carpet. Depardieu was taken off the flight and told to book another one.
 
Naomi Campbell

The supermodel held up a flight for almost an hour in 2008 when she discovered her bags had not been loaded during the chaotic opening of Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport. After swearing at staff and refusing to leave voluntarily she was removed by police officers. Equipped with stiletto-heeled boots, she kicked and spat at the officers, accusing them of targeting her because she was "black and famous". She was spared jail but sentenced to 200 hours’ community service.

Billie Joe Armstrong

The Green Day front man must have thought it was madness when he was thrown off a Southwest Airlines flight in September for nothing other than wearing baggy trousers. A flight attendant asked him to hike them higher but Armstrong refused and asked if there weren’t "better things to do than worry about that?" The singer and guitarist told Twitter fans: "Just got kicked off a southwest flight because my pants sagged too low! What the f***? No joke!"
 
Kevin Smith

Hollywood film director Kevin Smith last year accused Southwest Airlines of kicking him off a flight for being "too fat". Smith had complied with the airline’s requirement for "larger passengers" to buy two tickets but managed to get an earlier flight on standby which only had one seat left. The director of Dogma and Clerks was ejected from the plane and later lashed out on Twitter, asking: "What, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?" He refused to accept a $100 (£60) voucher from the airline.

David Hasselhoff

The former Baywatch and Knight Rider star did not even manage to board his plane from Heathrow to Los Angeles in 2006 because he was apparently too drunk. However, his publicist denied claims that he had been drinking beer and shots of whiskey while waiting to board. She said the actor felt unwell due to antibiotics he was taking after cutting his hand when he "bumped into a chandelier at a London hotel while shaving". ·