Alec Baldwin tossed off plane after spat

Alec Baldwin, the Massapequa-raised "30 Rock" star, was removed from a plane at Los Angeles International Airport Tuesday afternoon after he had words with a flight attendant about a game the actor was playing on his iPad.

"Flight attendant on American reamed me out 4 playing WORDS W FRIENDS while we sat at the gate, not moving," the "30 Rock" Emmy winner tweeted, referring to the multiplayer electronic word game from the company Zynga.

About a half-hour earlier, former MTV president and Activate.com founder Michael J. Wolf, a fellow passenger on American Airlines' Kennedy Airport-bound flight AAl4, had broken the news via Twitter: "On an AA flight at LAX. Alec Baldwin removed from the plane We had to go back to the gate. Terrible that everyone had to wait."

Baldwin's spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik, confirmed Baldwin's tweet, telling NBC News, "Alec was asked to leave the flight for playing Words with Friends on his iPad, while parked at the gate. Alec is so in love with Words with Friends that he would risk getting thrown off a flight to play."

The flight took off at 1:38 p.m. Pacific time, according to FlightTracker.com.

Baldwin, 53 -- who noted that "oddly, '30 Rock' plays in-flight on American" -- tweeted shortly afterward that he was "Now on the 3 o'clock American flight. The flight attendants already look . . . . . smarter."

Despite the rebooking, the actor appeared sour on the airline, tweeting, "Last flight w American. Where retired Catholic school gym teachers from the 1950's find jobs as flight attendants."

SEE PHOTOSAlec Baldwin through the years

American Airlines spokesman Ed Martelle said in a statement, "Owing to privacy concerns regarding our customers, we don't comment on something that might or might not have happened."

The carrier's customer service department, however, tweeted at just after 2:30 p.m. Pacific time "Mr. Baldwin, we are looking into this. Please DM us contact information."