Kevin Smith’s most famous role is a guy who rarely speaks. But he’s got a lot to say – much of it profane – after being kicked off a Southwest Air flight because he didn’t fit comfortably into the seat. “You [messed] with the wrong sedentary processed-foods eater!” Smith, whose next film, Cop Out, comes out Feb. 26, posted on Twitter.
Smith, 39, originally purchased two tickets “as he’s been known to do when traveling Southwest,” the airline noted, but when he decided to fly standby on an earlier flight, only one seat remained. Although he had been seated, he was asked to leave. Smith, who played Silent Bob in his Clerks movies and who has battled his weight for years – “I know I’m fat,” he confesses – was given a $100 voucher and arrived in Burbank on a later flight. But he was in no mood to accept an apology.
“I broke no regulation, offered no ‘safety risk’ (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?)” he Tweeted. “I saw someone bigger than me on THAT flight! But I wasn’t about to throw a fellow Fatty under the plane as I’m being profiled. But he & I made eye contact, & he was like ‘Please don’t tell…'” Smith added that while the ordeal was embarrassing, his “Jersey Girl training” (the 2004 flop starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez) was helping him cope.
Well, at least he didn’t pull the “don’t you know who I am” routine. And please…no “Silent Blob” jokes.
#29
Listen his podcast, Smodcast #106 to hear his explanation on WHY he buys 2 seats. I’ll give you a hint, it not necessarily about his size. Also he explains what happens to another passenger right after him who is even more of a victim than he is, but doesn’t have his notoriety, so chances are their humiliation at the the hands of SouthWest wouldn’t get the press his situation is getting.
I have met Kevin Smith personally during a signing for his latest book. I can tell you he’s not that obese. I like the fact that the Southwest blog went down because of this situation.
#30 GigG
Don’t do much international travel then? Amongst themselves they have about all the international routes covered. For example, flying from Madrid Spain to Philadelphia PA, I could’ve gone Iberia, Air France, Lufthansa or British Airways. All locked up in a price war to give the cheapest flight, times were good for travelling. Anyways the US Gov has given them assurances that they won’t use anti-trust legislation against them and they’re already moving ahead to start in on the US. Google news and one world airlines and see for yourself. Once the airlines figure out that this is going to be the only way to survive, they’ll all get on board, this is going to raise airfare for everyone, and I’m sure they won’t make the seating any more comfortable than it is today. Personally I think they should do like the spaceliner in the flick ‘the 5th Element’ everybody horizontal in racks and drugged.
This story has been featured on the news around here. It’s amazing to me that nobody has considered or mentioned the poor person who would have had to sit next to him.
I was forced to sit next to an obese person on a long flight. while his hips fit between the armrest, his flab overflowed into my seating area substantially and he was agressive about taking up as much of my room as he cared to. Not a pleasant trip for me.
By the way, the seats are chosen by the airline and do not reflect the choice of the manufacturer of the aircraft.
#13
When you’re suggesting ideas of removing plastic utensils to save money then yes I would have to say airlines are trying to make the most buck they can, at the cost of whatever the hell they choose to do.
There’s nothing you or I can do about it except choose another competitor and hope for the best.
You know things are getting anal when they tell you that you have exceeded their oxygen quota for the flight.
I’ve heard of needing publicity for one’s new movie but this is ridiculous! 🙂
#25 – if you knew anything about Smith, you’d know how stupid the reports on him being ‘drunk’ are.
It’s amazing how many people are jumping to conclusions without the facts. “oh, kevin buys two seats anyway because he’s fat and he knows it” – WRONG. Listen to his smodcast #106 – he bought two tickets NOT because of his weight (he meets the TSA/SWA requirements of armrests down and seatbelt fastened without an extension – so the ‘weight’ thing is no longer a factor) but because he doesn’t want to be bothered by people sitting next to him the whole flight trying to talk to him (“DUDE! You’re SILENT BOB! COOOOLLL!!!”). He likes to be left alone – pretty much like the rest of us, eh?
Bottom line is, SWA screwed up and isn’t admitting fault. There was zero reason for him to be ejected from the flight. The two people he sat between even told the stewardess who ejected him that he was ‘no problem’ and that it was ‘only an hour flight’ yet they ejected him anyway. Not to mention, how many times has he flown SWA in a single seat and never had an issue ’till now?
The worst part is, SWA (and some of you other bozos) continue to play the ‘too fat to fly’ card when that has NOTHING to do with the situation at hand.