'Too Fat to Fly' Kevin Smith Gets the Last Laugh on Southwest Airlines

By Bryan Alexander Posted Jul 7th 2010 04:00PM

'Too Fat to Fly' Kevin Smith Filmed Segments Mocking Southwest Airlines

In February, headlines around the world deemed director Kevin Smith "too fat to fly" after he was ordered to leave a Southwest Airlines flight on which he had already been seated.

After an angry explosion on his Twitter made national news, Smith did his best to let the controversy slip away -- until he was called upon to shoot scenes for the 'Cop Out' DVD release.

Smith moved in front of the camera to film hilarious DVD extras, continually making light of his now-famous girth. Without naming the airline, Smith referenced the situation that spun so crazily out of control.

"It was cathartic for me," Smith tells PopEater of the 'Cop Out' video shoot. "Just because an airline tells you you're fat doesn't mean it's true. I mean, yes I'm fat, but not like that. So it was kinda cool, and I can say the extras are full of my fat jokes."

After his removal from the flight became national news, Smith tried to dial back the escalating hype. "I thought, 'Ewww, this is becoming Octomom,'" he tells us. "I thought, 'This is becoming every gross, public quasi-celebrity thing I have always been grossed out by. Don't feed into it. Don't go on Larry King even though he's asking.'"

Quitting his furious, anti-Southwest tweets cold turkey, he hoped the controversy would fade. "The most important thing I did was to stay away from a camera," the 39-year-old 'Clerks' and 'Dogma' director says.

But while laying low, Smith was called to shoot the 'Maximum Comedy Mode' extras for the DVD for 'Cop Out,' his Warner Bros. movie starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. Although the DVD would not appear until months later (it drops in a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack on July 20), he still had major reservations.

"I didn't want to tape it," he says. "The Southwest thing happened and four days later I was told I had to do this thing for Warner Bros. I was like, 'What thing? On camera? You want me to get on camera now? Now, after that s**t?'"

He came around to doing the job and then some. Smith clearly purged some body-image demons in the shoot as he mocks himself on film -- the fat jokes run fast and furious. All the while Smith dons a sharp jacket, which has special significance -- it's a wardrobe favorite that still fit him even after the incident.

"That's the fat boy version of pulling out your skinny jeans," Smith says. "If I could still fit into that coat, you don't have me yet. I'm still 'thin.'"

And whether he's truly "thin" or not, Kevin Smith is getting the last laugh.

See the 'Cop out' trailer

Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook

Tags: Kevin Smith, Southwest Airlines

Comments

(22)

Thursday 08 July

By skoonix

Vote down Vote up Report this

It was all a publicity stunt for his lame film COP OUT. he got lucky with CLERKS and has been riding that sucker for years. All the power to him considering his limited talent. he is an awful writer/director.

Friday 09 July

By Marilyn

If a large person needs two seats, then they should pay....but you know what, if the airline GIVES them two seats YOU pay in higher fares.... or you're put in a seat next to the person, pay your fare and get HALF of the seat you paid for besides being smashed up against a large, soft, sweaty and hot person... AND THAT GOES NOT JUST TO THE LARGE PERSON, BUT TO THE BODY BUILDERS WHO'S SHOULDERS ARE IN YOUR SEAT TOO... I'm not blaming just the larger person...anyone who's in MY seat needs to get out!!! and I don't want to pay for an extra seat for you!!!!

Page 2 of 2