This is the kind of story that makes me so grateful that I didn’t have to fly anywhere over the holidays. I’m also grateful for the fact that I don’t have to interact with Russell Crowe in any way, especially in a service-job capacity. You see, Big Russ was trying to take his sons (Tennyson and Charles) on a Virgin Australia flight just after Christmas. And Virgin Australia – like almost all airlines and airports – had banned those stupid “hoverboards.” The fact that the lithium batteries in hoverboards might cause sparks and fires was all over the news here in America, and I’m assuming it was news in other parts of the world too. Very few airlines and airports were allowing people to carry on or pack hoverboards in their luggage. But Big Russ did not get the message. He expected someone to personally call him up and tell him that he couldn’t pack his sons’ hoverboards. Which is how this happened:
Ridiculous @VirginAustralia. No Segway boards as luggage? Too late to tell us at airport.Kids and I offloaded. Goodbye Virgin. Never again.
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) December 29, 2015
@russellcrowe …hope to see you on board again soon. 3/3
— Virgin Australia (@VirginAustralia) December 29, 2015
@VirginAustralia why did you not inform me when I booked my ticket? Where is your duty of responsibility in this?
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) December 29, 2015
.@VirginAustralia I'm awaiting your reply, where is your duty of responsibility in this? Why not tell me when I am booking my ticket?
— Russell Crowe (@russellcrowe) December 29, 2015
If that sounded like a Twitter-tantrum, it totally was. And after Russell smugly bitched out Virgin Australia’s Twitter handler, Virgin Australia offered this explanation:
Hi Russell, this information is outlined in the Dangerous Goods section in the booking confirmation and check in reminder emails you will have received. We have also communicated this on Facebook and Twitter, as well as through the media. We understand your frustration, however please appreciate that safety is our number one priority.
[From Virgin Australia’s Twitter]
Yep. There were news reports about this as early as two weeks before Christmas. Airlines were sending out updates on their social media pages and websites: do not pack hoverboards in your luggage. It’s that simple. And instead of acknowledging that he should have done some due diligence ahead of his vacation, Russell threw a tantrum. Classic Crowe.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Yuck. I hate grown men that act like brats.
Exactly! @Loulou
Stuff a sock in it and keep it moving.
You’re rich enough to afford new boards.
I feel sorry for his kids mostly because Russell Crowe is their father. Homeboy has SERIOUS anger management issues. I see him as the type that can just *snap* and get violent/aggressive/etc. When his sons get into their teenage years all they need to do for payback is google daddy to find out how much of a pugilistic tool he is.
Thank you Internet, you great equalizer you.
he needs anger management plus a few weight watchers classes.
He could have just gotten someone to ship them instead of being such a mess.
He can’t afford to fly private? LOL
Temper, temper Russell! Well at least he didn’t take a hover board and throw it at someone like he did with a phone years ago.
Seriously. Another day, another mantrum from Russell.
He hasn’t thrown a public tantrum in along time.
He throws plenty of twitter tantrums though.
And then threaten all of America with his leaving and never coming back. LOL He’s such an angry idiot.
He expected that they cater to him because he’s an actor and is “super important”. This is why celebrities really need a dose of reality. You are not more important than the next person. Get over yourself, Russell!
Well he gave his boys a good example of how not to act. Ignorance of the policy is not their (Virgin’s) fault.
I wonder if he feels silly after this tantrum.
No. He’s probably still all puffed up about it. He’s one of those whose talent does not outweigh his personality. Can’t stand him.
Exactly, people like him still think they’re right and that the real solution was Virgin Airlines should have personally delivered him a hand written letter apologizing profusely and warning him that hover boards were illegal.
Oh, I guess that’s why he’s fat, has to go everywhere on top of a hoverboard… Try go for a run and play some ball with the kids instead..
Yeah, fat shaming him is the answer to this.
Sorry, my bad.. Wasn’t thinking straight when I wrote this..
Reminds me of Amber Heard and her little dogs visiting Australia. Rules apply to everyone else except the rich and entitled.
I find him ratheramusing, but what I thought. Regular people have to deal with the ridiculous rules of airlines all the time.
RC: Why wasn’t this information told to me explicitly? #HoverboardFiresRule
VA: We don’t call all ticket holders to inform them how to pack. It was on your ticket confirmation. It was written down for you to read explicitly. #TheMoreYouKnow #DontThrowAnotherPhone #SorryNotSorry
Exactly! And how does he own hover boards and not know that they’re banned like, everywhere? What a d***.
I am glad the airline politely yet firmly stood its ground.
Seems like he wanted someone to have read the disclosures to him. No accountability.
Did he really expect Virgin to read him a list of all their rules and regulations on the phone, so he wouldn’t have to read his mails? I’m thinking that’s one phone call he would’ve finished angrily after about twenty seconds. What an asshat!
This lummox shoots himself in the foot at every turn. What on earth is “a duty of responsibility”, speak English Russ, not gobbeldy-gook. Read the small print man!
Having said that, I watched The Water Diviner over Christmas, and loved it. I cried buckets. Old Russel really is an amazing actor. It is difficult to get over the dichotomy of what an arse he is in real life, and how he transforms on the screen. It has to be an innate talent, it could never be a virtue in his case. I am sure Mr Branson has been informed, and is quaking in his boots that Big Russ is upset.
I think he meant duty of care, but he couldn’t figure it out amid his white-hot rage.
If you say “duty of responsibility” instead of “why didn’t you tell me what to do like I was a six year old” you sound much more credible.
Oh LOL!
True, that!!
Suze has got it! Lmao.
‘It was in the terms and conditions – ”
Russell: “That’s poor people contracts! I don’t read those!”
I just watched the Water Divener last night. There is no doubt he is an excellent actor who get lost in his roles. You believe him. As a human being, he’s a bit of a spoiled prick.
Yeah, just another actor who’s a reminder of why you really don’t want to know about their real character…sigh.
He is truly an amazing actor. Too bad he can’t act like a decent person in real life.
Just another malignant narcissist!
1) So Virgin was supposed to somehow *guess* that you planned to bring hoverboards onto the flight?
2) If the airlines had to tell each and every one of us what is on their prohibited list…..well, you can imagine. It’s your duty to look that up.
3) Nowadays, most people book online, so he probably didn’t even speak to an airline rep. But he really wants people to think that Virgin was at fault.
And I LOVE, LOVE the chirpy rejoinder of “Hope to see you soon!” totally ignoring grumpy Russell’s dark and foreboding “Ne-ver A-gain”.
It’s so deliciously CHEEKY!
+1000000. My first thought was: “Why would the airline know he was planning on taking hoverboards?” They would have more irate customers if they had to tell each one what was prohibited because the hold to talk to anyone would be horrific.
I know! If you’re planning on bringing something on a plane that’s been all over the news for WEEKS for catching on fire, wouldn’t you take it upon yourself to make sure that’s OK? Rather than expecting a huge company to notify all of their millions of passengers?
Yes on all counts! Such an @ss.
Yes!!! This comment sums up what I was thinking.
So, did he take the flight? Or ruin the kids’ holiday with his bufoonery?
First world problems, ya’ll. Recognize their plight.
Totally. It’s not like he can’t afford to buy replacements if his kids have to have them at their destination.
The man is an imbecile and prima donna. Everyone else can read up on luggage restrictions except for Crowe it seems. He wants to be notified personally, because he occupies a different dimension than the other peasants.
He should be more concerned with the fact that his film career of the last decade is filled with film flops.
I know, right?
I “love” how he was all like, “You should have let me know when I was buying the tickets”. That genuinely made me LMAO out loud. You should have ANTICIPATED his SECRET NEEDS, you stupid Virgin people! You should get your MIND-READING skills tuned up, Virgin morons!
LOL!
So funny!
This man has had an assistant for too long. He thinks we, the entire rest of the world, are also his assistant and should therefore anticipate his every need. Crowe needs to come back down to earth and join the rest of us in reality.
If I had to do it for my mother old Russy-poo can do it for himself.
Btw Russell you can take a gun (as long as the bullets are stored in a separate secure container) but you cannot take a taser or pepper spray. There, I just saved you your next tantrum.
I hope other passengers were not held up over this lack of responsibility on his part.
My worst flying experience was due to two morbidly obese individuals returning from Disney World and trying to get an oversized motorized scooter on a prop (regional) flight. We were delayed 2 hours due to a ‘weight-load’ issue. Several passengers had to give up their seats and be booked in a hotel. We could feel the plane rock and tilt during the one-hour flight. The two passengers should have disclosed the giant scooter in advance and not inconvenienced everyone else.
Give him time, in a few years he’ll be well on his way to fulfilling that scenario you describe and blaming the seats and airline for not catering to his expanding girth..
Lol!!! Nice one
Or the airline should have booked them on a later flight so the weight-and-balance issues could have been addressed ahead of time, rather than inconveniencing the other passengers.
I agree. I can only assume the airline staff feared some type of discrimination claim from the two who inconvenienced dozens of others.
I flew with my 6-year-old over the holidays. My trusty Southwest app actually sent a push notification about the hoverboard ban, plus an email well before my flights. It was also all over the news. Crowe is such a whiny baby and a big jerk. I hope he didn’t throw a fit in front of his kids. They don’t need to see that as a model of how to behave.
REally, you expect him to read this stuff?
He would, he is totally into himself. Back when I was in a creative non-fiction course we were assigned to read a piece by a journalist who had encountered Crowe and formed a friendship (or so he thought at the time, and he says it) with Crowe.
Here:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/when-i-was-russell-crowes-stooge/2006/06/06/1149359738242.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2
Wow. Skimming through that article just keeps adding to how terrible RC is.
The only good thing about this is that more people will know about the danger of hooverboards/lithium batteries and airplanes.
That article is so insane!
I can’t find it now, but there was also an amazing article written by a female interviewer who visited him on his country property. He was surrounded by his male ‘friends’, who the writer came to believe were selected to and only there to make Russell feel like the alpha male. He nearly broke her hand when he greeted her with a handshake, and his body language was intimidating. He made her listen to his latest album in full (she was not there to talk about his music), while he stared at her. The whole thing just came across as so weird and creepy.
@ Em and Kate my dad back in about 1988 was an extra on a film starring a just starting out Russell Crowe. Even then before he was famous I still remember my dad saying that the young bloke in the movie was a complete dickhead, and considering my dad wouldn’t have seen that much of him I think it really speaks to his innate character.
Many years later (but before Danielle) my dad’s partner told me a story about how she and a friend of hers were at a bar and Russell showed up. The friend was a very pretty girl and caught Russell’s eye. Rather than actually speak to her he pointed at her and beckoned, summoning her like she was a dog. Thankfully she gave him a one fingered signal back and ignored him.
Tl;Dr: Russell is a long standing douche from first hand accounts.
In 1999 I was working for a company doing Workers Compensation and I was handling one of Russell Crowe’s band mates and helping them return to work after an injury that they had suffered. Every time I met with this guy he gave me the same bone crushing handshake that the reporter mentions and this guy enjoyed trying to intimidate women. After one too many faxes from the US saying, “I can’t come back to Australia for work, as I am in the US with the band”. I had had enough and spoke to this guy’s boss and had his employment terminated. He had lots of time to play with the band after that.
I love how Virgin politely and totally shut him down by pointing out that all that type of info was already in his hands in a couple different forms. And then Twitter went IN on him after he kept whining about it.
Maybe I should try to be more sympathetic, he is after all, “just a father trying to get on a plane with his two kids” and not like, a millionaire that could afford to charter a private plane or anything. Not that he would be able to take a hoverboard on that either.
Entitled asshat. He never changes, does he?
Nice moobs.
Poor little Rich Man.
*rolls eyes, walks away*
I watched his film (the water diviner) yesterday and i was wondering why his flop vanity project didnt make any news when it cost double of what by the sea reportedly was…..ummmmmm, not to mention, he seems more diva than angie ever was
It did make news for completely sidestepping the Armenian genocide & inaccurate portrayals of Greeks, Armenians, etc just so Crowe could suck up to Turkish authorities so he could film within the Blue Mosque.
Because it was well reviewed even if it was not a commercial success?
Not really. Many English newspapers, like the Independent, rubbished it for its poetic licence with historical events.
A few English newspapers rubbished Argo for its poetic lience with the facts – didn’t stop it being a success.
Because it didn’t bomb quite so spectacularly. BtS barely eked out $500,000 in the US, and has only made a quarter of it’s budget back worldwide. The Water Diviner was actually a hit in Australia, and made over $4 million in the US. It fell short of making back it’s budget, but it actually didn’t do too badly for a film of it’s type. BtS did terribly by any measure.
If you google it, there’s plenty of critical articles and writers calling it a vanity project.
May I just point out that this man is the same age as: Sandra Bullock; Laura Linney; Marisa Tomei; Hope Davis; Callista Flockhart; Monica Bellucci; Mary-Louise Parker; Courtney Cox; Mariska Hargitay; and Juliette Binoche and if any one of them dared show up anywhere looking like that, they would be shredded.
He was on the TV screen as I was getting ready (not even sure what movie it was) and my first thought was how slovenly he looks. Plus how Meg seemingly started a slide by being mixed up with him.
A couple of hours later, this post appears.
Yup you can pin the demise of Meg’s career when she hooked up with this loser. Yeah her marriage wasn’t the greatest but she left Dennis for him. Maybe she thought they would last but they broke up and he went back to his ex girlfriend, now ex-wife.
I’ve never watched a Rusty movie ever since.
He and Danielle Spencer split in 2012, although have not divorced.
I’m getting old John Goodman vibes in the pic with his sons. Is that just me?
Not just you. And Goodman has lost a lot of weight recently so Russell is the new John Goodman.
Note to self: if Russell Crowe is ever on my plane, demand to be rebooked.
And duck!
And serpentine your way out of the situation!
All I can think of is where is the Gladiator?? Loved him then. I saw him once amongst thousands in the botanical gardens in Sydney when all looking at the Queen Mary and Elizabeth ships. He had loss his hotness then😒
I’m thinking the Gladiator is more like the evil emperor these days – except not nearly as handsome as Joaquin Phoenix was, naturally.
Rage-tweeted? Whatever you think of him this hardly comes under the classification of rage, particularly in his case!
Right–I’m reading frustration, not rage. Blown out of proportion by the media (again). I am also surprised at how obese he as become. Russell–lose weight for your kids at least!
“Particularly in this case?” Take a seat. Neither rage nor frustration were justified. As many others have pointed out, this information was readily available to him through several sources.
Rules. Rules. Don’t apply to me. Loser. Take a private plane.
Wait, you mean they won’t send me a hand engraved letter detailing which random items I can and can’t take on an airplane? But what about my service possum?!? Customer service these days!
Virgin Australia forgot to send over a professional reader for him.
They could have sent a professional luggage packer too! The imbeciles.
He wants us to believe he books his own flights? That’s strange , I would assume his personal assistant, or whomever, would do such a mundane task.
So who is the really ticked off with?
That’s what I was just thinking. I wonder how many assistants he has gone through over the years. I also wonder if working for Russell earns a special badge of distinction, with double-honors awarded if you survive more than one tantrum – or more than three months, whichever comes first.
Maybe the assistant is on a much-needed sanity break for the holidays – far, far away from anything resembling cell phone reception or wi-fi connections. Lord knows you’d need all the stress-relieving spa treatments known to man in order to survive working for Crowe.
“Big Russ”. His transformation to the guy we see here is just unfortunate.
Maximus! Maximus! Maximus!
Rusty – learn to read.
I love how the Virgin Twitter monitor kept responding with See you soon! That made me laugh.
I’m thinking a part of him knew that it might be an issue even before he got to the airport counter. But he tried it anyways and then got enraged when he couldn’t get his way.
He can’t be this stupid… unless he really is.
The big baby is still pitching a fit on twitter… I used to like him but he’s really losing it.
What an arse. His kids are just so much more important than all of those lowly schmucks on the airplane……..