Kevin Smith Kicked Off Southwest Flight for Being Too Fat

By PopEater Staff Posted Feb 14th 2010 09:22AM

Kevin Smith is not a happy Southwest customer.

The director was thrown off a flight from Oakland to Burbank, after being deemed too fat to fly. He would later end up on another Southwest flight and now he's expressing his anger on Twitter.

"Dear @SouthwestAir - I know I'm fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?" her began.

"Dear @SouthwestAir, I flew out in one seat, but right after issuing me a standby ticket, Oakland Southwest attendant Suzanne (wouldn't give last name) told me Captain Leysath deemed me a "safety risk". Again: I'm way fat... But I'm not THERE just yet. But if I am, why wait til my bag is up, and I'm seated WITH ARM RESTS DOWN. In front of a packed plane with a bunch of folks who'd already I.d.ed me as 'Silent Bob,'" Smith continued in a succession of several tweets.

Smith even posted a photo of himself on the plane.

Then he got a little angrier. "So, @SouthwestAir, go f--- yourself. I broke no regulation, offered no "safety risk" (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?). I was wrongly ejected from the flight (even Suzanne eventually agreed). And f--- your apologetic $100 voucher, @SouthwestAir. Thank God I don't embarrass easily (bless you, JERSEY GIRL training). But I don't sulk off either: so everyday, some new f----you Tweets for @SouthwestAir."

Southwest issued a response on Twitter. "I've read the tweets all night from @thatkevinsmith - He'll be getting a call at home from our Customer Relations VP tonight."

"@ThatKevinSmith Again, I'm very sorry for the experience you had tonight. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do," the Southwest twitterer added.

But Smith didn't stop. "The @SouthwestAir Diet. How it works: you're publicly shamed into a slimmer figure. Crying the weight right off has never been easier!"

And he wanted to let the airline know he had made it to his destination. "Hey @SouthwestAir! I've landed in Burbank. Don't worry: wall of the plane was opened & I was airlifted out while Richard Simmons supervised."

Tags: kevin smith, KevinSmith

Comments

(275)

Sunday 14 February

By miyagison44

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This is not the first time this has happened......

By JJ

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If all fat people boycott Southwest, it will definetly make it easier to get cheap tix. Gotta like that.

By rockdeboat

i got booted off a conecting flight,pre 9/11, for saying aloud that southwest sucks

By miki49

Kevin,

Take the bus next time!

By steve

Here is your next twitter that you may use today only. I sang this to the gate agent and supervisor the only bad time I ever had a Bad Experience with Southwest. This goes along to their old advertising jingle.
"You Love Some Not The Rest, I Always Thought that You Were The Best, Now I Know That Its Not True Maybe Its Time To Fly JET BLUE"

By mike

Sue these bastards!

By valeskas

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He is selfish, because people have to sit next to him and his bulk is partly in their seats. I know, because I had someone sitting next to me and it was horrible. I got nothing against fat or bigger as I like to call them, but they have to think about the other passengers too. It is awful sitting next to a person like it, because it restrains the person next to them and they pay also for their seat.

By Richard

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You are a f'n moron too. If the guy could get the armrest down then part of him was NOT in anybodys seat!! I love how all these brain dead people think that because you are fat that you are worthless in life. Well listen braindead, if we are fat we can lose weight, you will always be braindead. Which would you rather be???

Monday 15 February

By Aristus

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Thanks for discriminating against fat people. I'm very grateful to know that someone, somewhere, thinks of me as fat or bigger, as you like to call us. As much as you would like to deny it, fat people aren't stupid or without feelings. In case you didn't notice, Smith had his arm rests down, so he wasn't spilling over into anything. In the future, try being a little more considerate, and maybe you won't seem like a jerk to the rest of the world.

Tuesday 16 February

By kmbrlgh01

Apparently you haven't taken the time to review the whole story...he DID buy two seats and he DID have the armrests down. Please try to use your brain and think, even if it hurts, because God knows your words are hurting others.

By spgomarino

sonny,
resonsibility? really? being that stupid people look just like everyone else,we just have to wait for you to speak to figure it out.

By kimico

u r an ignoramus... not all fat people are heavy by choice. i suppose you blame AIDS patients for their own condition, too... i hope someday u r afflicted with some dreadful condition and surrounded by ignorance

By Bill

When I pay for a seat why must I be forced to share any portion of it with a person whose body mass spills over into my paid for space? Further more, why must I endure rubbing shoulders with some hairy slob in a tank to? And, the next time some passenger puts their seat in the full reclined position with their head in my face I think I'm just going to throw up in their hair. Enough said.

By lunella ragamuffin

Amen brother! There is nothing worse than having some fat slob, emphasis on slob, sitting next to you. Well, maybe the screaming kid who's running up and down the aisle or kicking the back of your seat.

By Dianna

SW should not have waited until Kevin was seated, to tell him to get off. The ticket personal should have softly told him at the counter. But instead they choice to embarrass him publicly.. Bad choice on SW part. ONLY if someone spills over into the next seat should they be told such a thing,, 'at the counter' not while on board, so the rest of the passegers could hear. This is just bad business.

By Susan

He was using a standby ticket, and then sat using that ticket which means there were NO spare seats for him to overflow into. It can be hard to judge how someone is going to fit into a seat until they are actually in it. Some people simply spread more than others. You can't simply charge him for two seats if there are not two seats left (note that he was flying STANDBY). It's likely he was impinging upon the person sitting next to him, and if they'd moved him, then he would have overflowed into the aisle. Both safety hazards. Just because you fit your butt into one seat does not mean you should be allowed to overflow into someone elses space

By Tex

It appears that he got to his destination using another carrier, so he should be tweeting good things about that airline. Southwest?......naw, they messed up, bigtime!

By rhunter247

How many "men" can fit their shoulders within the dimensions of a standard airline seat. The width of your shoulders would not be able to exceed about 20 inches. That's classified as a very small man - probably about 5'7" and weighing about 125lbs. A man about 6' and weighing about 180lbs would easily have shoulders that "flow" over into the next persons seat. Has anyone noticed how small the seats are getting? Could it possibly be an attempt to fit as many people on a flight as possible, thereby maximizing ticket sales? Oh gee! The airlines wouldn't do that, would they??

By RAS

He should have been charged for two seats and allowed to fly. If you can not fit into one plane seat then it is reasonable for the airline to make up for the lost revenue of that seat and fair that some other person does not have to have half of your fat body oozing over them.

That he was flying standby means there were not spare seats.

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