You may have already heard that “Clerks” director Kevin Smith was thrown off a Southwest Airlines flight yesterday for being too fat – after he was buckled in.
So take the mistreatment of a geek cult hero, add his Twitter feed with over a million and half followers (ThatKevinSmith), and you have a well-deserved public relations nightmare. In a stunning display of the power of new media vs. old, Kevin (who’s famous for his colorful language on Twitter) is not holding back on this one. He’s got up a podcast, too:
Director Kevin Smith was ejected from a plane after being deemed “too fat to fly,” he says on his Twitter account.
After delivering a speech in San Francisco, he boarded a Southwest Airlines flight to Burbank and was seated on the plane but then was thrown off the flight Saturday evening. The director of Clerks and other movies, who is also known for playing the movie character Silent Bob in many films, fired off a round of Twitter messages aimed at Southwest. Among them, “Fair warning folks: If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air.” A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines wrote an apology on the company’s Twitter account. The message, from an unnamed representative, says “Hey Kevin! I’m so sorry for your experience tonight! Hopefully we can make things right.”
Have any of you ever had a similar experience?
Not exactly, but I have had the misfortune of being seated near tall people. A ghastly experience if there ever was one. Honestly, I don’t know why people (if you can even call them that) over 5’7″ are even allowed in public spaces. You’d think that embarrassment alone would be enough to keep these freaks cloistered in their hovels. Obviously we need new public policy that discourages individuals for choosing to grow to an unnatural height.
At 5’9″ I’m not particularly tall, but since you want to banish me from the brotherhood and sisterhood of “people”, you leave me no recourse but to suggest that you go listen to “short people” one more time.
I’m pretty sure Chris was being facetious.
Haven’t had a similar experience on a plane but on buses I’ve had problems with men with broad shoulders hitting me and making me try to sit at angles. The result of this twisting of my back: causing strains on the muscles of my lower back and consequent pain from a herniated disk.
There are too many fat people in this country. I can’t go to the market without being surrounded by lardasses.
Chris – I’m 5’5″. I’ll join you. Together we can put everything on low shelves, and make those bastards ask for help.
Back in 1989 or 1990, I flew Alaska Airlines from Portland to Hawaii.
The stewardess said, “That seat is too small for you” or words to that effect when she was checking seat belts. She moved me into executive seating and refused a $50 tip.
On the way back same exact same happened.
They made more money that way because I told everyone that I knew that was flying “Fly Alaska, they are the best.”
It’s easier to feel sympathy if one hasn’t had the experience of being squashed between two heavyweights spilling over their own seats.
Here’s what I don’t understand about all the hostility: We travel all the time “cheek to cheek” in squashed quarters – on trains, subways and buses. We see Broadway shows in seats so small, you can barely breathe. Why is everyone suddenly so hostile about a fat person’s thigh touching theirs, just because it’s on a plane? I’m guessing not many of the complainers live in NYC, where you’re happy just to get a seat on the subway.
I’m only 5’7″, but most of my height is in my legs – and traveling on planes is a nightmare for me when the person in front of me puts his seat back RIGHT ON MY KNEES. Do I demand that the person in front of me get thrown off the plane, or put his seat up? No, I do not. Because I know I’m traveling on a cattle car, and being treated like cattle is the price I pay for cheap airfare.
If I see a theatrical show, I have to buy an aisle seat so I can stretch my legs – which usually puts me up somewhere near the ceiling. Still, it’s worth it to be able to walk out of the theater without my knees cramping up. Of course, then I have to get rid of the crick in my neck that results from sitting sideways.
I’d prefer a fat person to a businessman who thinks he owns the world.