greggwiggins

According to some tabloid reports, maybe.

If so, it happened aboard a flight from Darwin to Mumbai.

The Qantas flight attendant may wind up losing her job.

One of many accounts of the story is at:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251567,00.html

On his MSNBC program Countdown Keith Olbermann named Fiennes his "Worst Person in the World" for Monday, Feb 12th. I don't know if the error is original to Olbermann's script or if the transcriber added a "u" to Qantas.

The full "Worst Persons in the World" list for Feb. 12th is at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17130787/

And here's an excerpt from Olbermann's comments on Fiennes:

"The real reasons for his candidacy, however, first, he "no commented" the story. Secondly, Quantus acknowledges that he and the flight attendant were chatting as she served him in business class. Business class? You want to seduce a flight attendant in midair and you can’t spring for first, buddy? Actor Ralph Fiennes, Monday's Worst Person In the World."


Actually, I checked Qantas' website, and the airline's flights between Darwin and Mumbai are on two-class aircraft, offering just coach and business.

I think I'll send Olbermann an e-mail pointing that out.

peachfront

Yeah, I thought the same as you -- I thought it was only a two class flight.

Be that as it may, he's still not too chivalrous and, hottie or not, I don't totally object to him being named Worst Person of the Day. Seems it would be better to claim to be the aggressor and that he now understands that she was just being courteous in talking to him and that he shouldn't have been so forward as to follow her into the lavatory. And that he apologizes for any misunderstanding. By taking the blame on himself, he could maybe help the lady save her job. But maybe he was jet-lagged and didn't think of it in time. Definitely sounds like his judgment was impaired.

Mikey likes it

If he made an unwelcome advance toward this bird, shame on him.

If on the other hand they had some kind of consensual encounter on the plane, that's unprofessional on her part but I don't think Fiennes should be criticized for it.

jtkauai

Given that:

"Fiennes was flying from Australia to India as a Unicef ambassador to promote awareness of HIV and safe sex at the time..."

No worries, I'm sure everything was safe. I have to say the whole thing make me chuckle.

mattkorey

I'm a little suspicious of her being surprised that it happened. She said she asked him to leave the lav and after a short time he did. It seems like that if you didn't want to be in a lav with someone that you would leave immediately and not wait for them to leave after a short or however long time. I think she just wanted to defend her honor. Maybe she just should have said none of your business!

Harrald

I have a habit of Locking the lav door when I enter. I can't see how he entered the toilet without her consent.

Sounds like someone trying to keep their job after they got busted doing something they shouldn't.

dhuey

Why did her fellow FAs feel the need to rat her out, I wonder. I would have said, "hey, that counts as your 15 min. coffee break."

peachfront

I have to admit that the story as reported leaves the impression that the FA may have welcomed the attentions of Ralph Fiennes. Hey, I'd hit it! (Just kidding, honey.) It isn't my place to get between adults doing what adults do. I was just suggesting, since she was on the job and he wasn't, it might have been a nice gesture if he had stepped forward and said, "My bad" to help the lady keep her job. Fiennes won't lose any acting job because he has gained the reputation of being a lady's man or a bit sexually adventurous. However, the FA could lose her job for participating in the same activity. So I was thinking he could have been a bit more chivalrous here. My suggestion might be terrible for legal reasons though. I guess you have to balance a lot of legal considerations when you're a celebrity, and "no comment" is sometimes the better part of valor.

6andy6

Kettle is all I can say. Class...all class. A woman is not a 'bird'..she is a lady (whether she acts like that or not)

dhuey

He has a lot at stake in something like this. Millions of women love to stare into his eyes on the big screen. Saying that his encounter with this FA was sleazy aggression on his part wouldn't play well with lots of his fans.

peachfront

Well, I didn't imagine him using the words "sleazy aggression." More something on the lines of, "I was so blown away by her beauty and her intelligence that I lost control of myself." You know. Make it a little bit romantic!

dhuey

That might work on a beach in the south of France. Not so well in an aircraft lav.

peachfront

Heh heh. Well, I tried, Ralph!

skylady

But what if this "bird" was really hot? and then he convinced her, "she was the one"? would it be sleazy?

GUWonder

Any pictures of the QF FA Lisa Robertson?