CULTURE: Steven Slater: I Had 'a Few Sips' Before JetBlue Exit!

Steven Slater gave his first extensive interview since his dramatic exit from a JetBlue plane made him a folk hero, admitting to Larry King last night that “the perfect storm of bad manners … created this situation, including my own.” Slater describes the flight he was working as “stressful, rushed,” and says he “was angry at all of it” and admits his service was probably “less than stellar that day.” His forehead was cut before takeoff while trying to fit an oversized bag into the overhead bin, but it ultimately had to be checked.

When the plane landed, the passenger to whom it belonged berated him and called him a curse word, he says—cue his dramatic exit. "I was just thinking, 'I'm free, I'm finally free.’ It was a nice, hot beach day, and I had a couple of cold beers,” Slater says, admitting that he’d already had “a few sips” of alcohol during the flight. “I think of myself as someone who reached the end of the rope and may not have handled it the best way ... but I'm moving forward,” he says. He reached a plea deal last week that allows him to avoid jail, and has snagged a book deal.