Clay Aiken involved in airplane spat

Singer later joked about getting beaten up by a girl

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Winners and losers
July 9: American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken emerges as the day’s loser after a spat on a plane. Dan Abrams discusses Clay’s slip-up with former American Idol contestant Carmen Rasmusen.

MSNBC

updated 6:31 p.m. ET July 8, 2007

TULSA, Okla - Clay Aiken was involved in an airplane disturbance with another passenger Saturday while en route to Tulsa International Airport, a newspaper reported.

The dispute on a Continental Airlines flight took place between Aiken, who was traveling Saturday morning to a performance at the Brady Theater, and a woman, the Tulsa World reported for Sunday’s editions.

Concertgoers who attended the former “American Idol” singer’s show said afterward that Aiken joked on-stage about being beaten up by a girl earlier in the day.

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FBI Special Agent Gary Johnson said there was a dispute between a male passenger and a woman on the flight but could not confirm the passenger was Aiken. He said the dispute was over the male passenger’s foot resting on the woman’s armrest. He said there was an allegation the woman gave the male passenger a “minor shove” during the argument.

“At that point the flight crew was able to resolve the situation,” Johnson said.

Tulsa Airport Authority spokeswoman Alexis Higgins said the passengers were held until FBI agents arrived to interview them. No injuries were reported and no arrests were made.

Aiken was runner-up on the TV talent show “American Idol” in 2003.

Telephone calls and e-mails from The Associated Press to Aiken’s publicist and manager in Los Angeles were not returned Sunday.