Josh Duhamel gets thrown off of a flight for being a jagoff

Is Josh Duhamel a dick? I can never tell. And this story of Josh isn’t helping. According to TMZ, Josh was kicked off of a plane yesterday after repeatedly refusing to turn off his Blackberry. Josh claims that he was only texting someone about the plane being delayed. But get what happened: so, the flight attendant was all “seriously, you need to turn that off” and Josh was all “Bitch, I said NO.” So the flight attendant “called for backup” and the plane turned off of the runway and went back to the gate so that Josh could be formally thrown off. Doesn’t that seem… um, excessive?

Josh Duhamel was escorted off of a plane yesterday after he refused to turn off his BlackBerry … sources tell TMZ

We’re told Duhamel was on a flight from New York (LGA) to Kentucky — when, according to sources, the flight attendant asked Duhamel to turn off his BlackBerry before takeoff … but he refused.

One passenger tells us Duhamel was “very rude” and “taunting the attendant.”

We’re told the flight attendant asked Josh to turn off the device three separate times — and on the third time Josh laughed at her request.

We’re told Duhamel’s reaction infuriated the attendant, who then called for backup — and the plane, which was already on the runway, was turned back to the gate.

Two officers eventually boarded the plane and escorted Duhamel off of the aircraft.

We’re told passengers were pissed — because the incident further delayed the flight.

Before boarding the plane, we’re told Josh was in the airport bar watching the Cleveland/Miami game.

Duhamel’s rep told TMZ Josh was texting on his BlackBerry about his flight being delayed. The rep adds, “He’s sorry.”

[From TMZ]

Is Josh a dick? Yes, probably, absolutely, and let me make this clear: Josh handled himself very poorly, and he deserves the overwhelming majority of the scorn. That being said, the flight attendant and the pilot who turned off the runway also sound like major a–holes too, in my opinion. In a holiday season where every flight is delayed and passengers are already pissed off, you’re going to act like a kindergarten teacher and order the plane back to the gate… over a dude who wouldn’t turn off his Blackberry? Shouldn’t “going back to the gate” be used only in emergencies, like “the engine just fell out” or “a terrorist has a box cutter”? Here’s a thought: why not just get the air marshal to confiscate Josh’s Blackberry for the length of the flight, then arrest him for harassment or whatever once the flight lands?

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