'L Word' star kicked off plane after kiss

The publicist for a lesbian actress and musician who says she was escorted off a flight for "one modest kiss" of her partner says the encounter was not a stunt for her band's upcoming breast cancer awareness tour, The Associated Press reports.

Leisha Hailey, best known for playing Alice Pieszecki in the now defunct Showtime lesbian life drama "The L Word," asked her Twitter followers to boycott Southwest Airlines after the encounter Monday.

The airline responded that Hailey's display of affection was excessive and drew customer complaints. It also accused the couple of cursing.

Hailey and her partner, Camila Grey, denied in a statement released Tuesday that the affection they showed was inappropriate: "We want to make it clear we were not making out or creating any kind of spectacle of ourselves, it was one modest kiss . . . We were simply being affectionate like any normal couple."

Hailey and Grey acknowledge they became upset after the flight attendant reprimanded them. They said the attendant told them that Southwest is a "family airline." Hailey and Gray said they plan to file a formal complaint with the airline.

The incident led to a national media spotlight for the actress, who now is a part of the electro-pop duo Uh Huh Her. Publicist Libby Coffey said Tuesday that the encounter was "absolutely not" done for attention.

The airline said in a news release posted on its website: "Our crew, responsible for the comfort of all Customers on board, approached the passengers based solely on behavior and not gender. The conversation escalated to a level that was better resolved on the ground, as opposed to in flight."