The Broke and the Beautiful: American Airlines Edition

This week on The Broke and the Beautiful, “30 Rock” actor Alec Baldwin traded words with American Airlines flight attendants, and TLC gets a cool biopic. Also this week, an Australian Olympic hopeful is swimming in doubt about his chances for 2012.

When American Airlines parent AMR Corp. landed in bankruptcy two weeks ago, it probably wasn’t thinking of celebrity PR. But this week, it flew into trouble with actor Alec Baldwin, The Wall Street Journal reported. Baldwin, who was kicked off of an American Airlines flight this week for refusing to stop playing Words With Friends on his cellphone, tweeted about his frustration. The “30 Rock” actor later apologized in a Huffington Post column, calling himself “brand loyal” and noting that he hadn’t intended to inconvenience anyone.

File for bankruptcy, get your own biopic? That might be the case for TLC band member Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, who, as we noted last week, filed for Chapter 13 in October. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Watkins will help band member Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas produce the biopic. The two surviving members of the band behind such classics as “No Scrubs,” “Unpretty” and “Waterfalls” haven’t toured regularly since the death of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in a car crash in 2002.

Australian swimmer Nick D’Arcy might be feeling a little down under. That’s because D’Arcy, who’s hoping to swim in the 2012 Olympics in London, may not even be able to qualify for the team after treading water in bankruptcy. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a bankruptcy doesn’t bar someone for qualifying for the Olympics, but there’s a chance D’Arcy would have to give up his passport to the trustee in his case.

Former basketball star Antoine Walker got time on the bench this week. According to the Associated Press, Walker was sentenced to five years of probation and was ordered to pay $770,050 in restitution to three casinos in Las Vegas after not repaying some gambling debts. The former NBA forward filed for bankruptcy last May with $12.7 million in debts.

Former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell scored his biggest touchdown yet. According to the Daily Record, Brunell’s Chapter 11 plan was confirmed this week, paving the way for the Jets player to exit bankruptcy. Perhaps Brunell, who filed for Chapter 11 in June 2010, will now have more time to tackle his burgeoning career as a medical sales representative.