Follow Zap2it:
Southwest Airlines: Kevin Smith is too fat to fly!
"Cop Out" director Kevin Smith was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight Saturday (Feb. 13) for being a "safety risk" -- a civil way of saying he was too fat to fly.Smith was jetting from Oakland to Burbank when, according to his tweets, a Southwest attendant approached him in his seat and "told me Captain Leysath deemed me a 'safety risk.'"
"Wanna tell me I'm too wide for the sky?" Smith posted on his Twitter account. "Totally cool, but fair warning folks: If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air."
After the whole debacle, he posted this cheek-blown photo with the caption: "Look how fat I am on your plane! Quick! Throw me off!"
The acclaimed "Clerks" and Chasing Amy" director, aka "Silent Bob," added that SWA did offer him a $100 voucher for his troubles. He also wrote that a woman seated next to him was also "chastised for not buying an additional seat."
Well, SWA may have messed with the wrong large dude. Smith has more than 1.6 million Twitter fans. And -- trust me because I have been to some of my pal Kev's events -- there are thousands of fans, some of whom look eerily like Kevin, who will definitely boycott SWA.
After he posted his bitter experience on Twitter, the outrage has spread like a wildfire among his fans who tweet-spat back at the airline. In addition to the $100 voucher, he received a few apologetic tweets from SWA. Fine. But don't expect his forgiveness.
Is this weight discrimination? Have you -- or anyone you know -- ever been kicked off a plane for being too large?
Follow Zap2it's Dish Rag on Twitter and Facebook for the latest celeb news and buzz.
More Kevin Smith dish:
'Twilight: New Moon': Kevin Smiths asks, Where's Team Silent Bob?
Kevin Smith wants to watch
Photo credit: Kevin Smith/Twitter
Follow Zap2it on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest news and buzz
Zap2it Elite Sheet Must Reads from the Web's In-Crowd
Featured Partners
Hey, he admits he's FAT!! What's the problem? Ever see a grossly fat bird fly? All he's got to do is stop eating so much. Donate some of his money to a fat prevention campaign instead of complaining. How do you think the skinny person sitting next to a fatty that spills over the armrest feels? Hey fat people, stop blaming someone else for your problems!
I am just happy to see that at least one airline is considering the safety and comfort of its other paying customers. If he can't fit in his seat he should pay for two. I don't care if he is a sh*tty director or not. Cry me a river. I will continue to support Southwest in the future. Thanks!!
so why doesn't Southwest advertise it's new polcy in a commercial--"hey if you're a fatty don't even think about flying with us." anyway i haven't seen that advertised so seems unfair to draw a line with Kevin Smith all of a sudden.
I'm sure he was embarrassed when asked to leave the plane, but if you paid for 2 seats and there was only 1 available why take the flight??? Sorry, I'm that person next to the window or the aisle when a "BIGGIE SMALLS" plops down in the middle and takes up 1/3 of your seat a** and elbows included!!! PS: I'm not a skinny mini either, but my A** is in MY Seat and not partially in someone else's. Grow up, take some personal responsibility for your weight and show some consideration for your cabin mates.
Everything's relative, yall. Airline seats are too small for ANY body (except a child's), but overflowing someone else's tiny space is a personal invasion. Why would the captain call it a "flight risk", though? Planes carry so much people weight that 150 extra pounds would matter little. I think he was trying to tactfully enforce the new two-seat for fatties policy.
I suspect the issue was more about weight distribution than about Smith not buying an extra seat. I've seen waaaay bigger dudes with only one seat. A flight from Burbank to Oakland would probably be a rather small plane, on which weight distribution is pretty key. Still, that sucks. I'd be very upset and embarassed.
Unfortunately, I think SouthWest is right. As a lean people (170lbs) I feel discriminated against when
a) I have to travel on half a seat when I paid a full price because I am seated next to a fat guy which does not want to lower its armchair and takes half of my seat.
b) I pay for additional luggage when my fat neighbor does not pay a dime and the total weight of himself and its luggage is more than twice mine.
Oh cute people trolls of the internet. Smith HAD purchased two seats but the airlines overbooked the flight, so his second seat disappeared. I bet it's his fatty fault for booking two seats on a flight that would OBVIOUSLY overbook, right?
Maybe all these people who are critizing Kevin need all the facts first. If he did in fact buy two seats & the airline overbooked than it is discrimination if a thin person was chosen over someone of larger size to remain on the plane. Speaking as somone who flies frequently for work my seat/armrest have been invaded by skinny people & large people alike who think it's okay to sprawl out.