The Celebrity Copycat
The First Essential Scary Truth
Celebrities are the greatest pack animals ever created. If Madonna decides to overthrow Kabbalah tomorrow and join the Moonies, one can be sure Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher and George Clooney will follow the day after. And of course as soon as Clooney goes do the hang with Rev. Moon Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts will join him in Moonie bliss.
There are certain times, however, when one wishes the Cult of Monkey See Monkey Do that makes up the spirituality in the Land of the Famous A-List On Down would put make sure those predalicted to public embarrassment got the ‘Don’t Do This Memo.’ This month’s culprit for acting out in public is none other than beloved weatherman Al Roker. His choice of celebrity to copycat: Alec Baldwin.
(From the New York Post)
Al Roker nearly “pulled an Alec Baldwin” on an American Airlines flight when he refused to give up his aisle seat for rocker Alex Van Halen and his wife, Stine Schyberg, and remained glued to his phone after the gate closed to tune out the pushy couple’s protests.
After hosting the Rose Bowl in LA on Monday, the campy “Today” meteorologist avoided a fiery confrontation on AA flight No. 4 to New York when his first-class companions, the Van Halen co-founder and his wife, bitterly complained to the gate agent that Roker was sitting between them as the plane sat on the ground.
Witnesses said Alex was seated by the right- side window, his wife in the center of the cabin, with Roker in the aisle seat between them. Alex’s brother and Van Halen co-founder Eddie and his wife, Janie Liszewski, were seated in the row behind them.
“Alex complained, ‘We’re not together, Mr. Roker’s seat is between ours,” a spy said. “Al was looking at his phone, desperately trying to ignore the whole situation.”
When the agent asked Roker to move to the aisle seat in the first-row center, he stated that he’s “allergic to dogs,” a source tells us. A passenger with a little dog in a crate was in the row behind Roker, and moving to the aisle would have put him three seats away, rather than four.
To sit together, Alex and Stine then swapped with passengers in business class, our spy said, adding that a relieved Al “said ‘Hello’ to the new people when they sat down, after hiding from the Van Halens by texting.”
Roker, who then turned his phone off, seemed to have better etiquette than “30 Rock” star Baldwin, who was bounced from a flight last month for unleashing his rage on a flight attendant who asked him to put his phone away.
While the situation was uncomfortable, “There was literally not an ounce of rock star bullbleep,” a spy said of Alex, “But his wife was making a big deal complaining about it.”
A rep for Van Halen told us the band “couldn’t be reached.” NBC declined to comment.
When you choose to emulate a man who called his teenage daughter “a thoughtless little pig” it’s bad enough. But when a rock and roller known for boorish behavior with his band mates shows you the meaning of class, perhaps it’s time for behavior rehab which maybe the next career move for the socially retarded celebrity copycat.
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