The Los Angeles Times reports that director Kevin Smith, known for his shocking comedies like “Clerks” and “Chasing Amy,” received a shock of his own earlier this week when he was kicked off of a Southwest Airlines flight for “being too fat.” Now Smith has taken to his Twitter account to tell his side of the story and rail against Southwest’s policies.
Smith was on a flight from Oakland to Burbank on February 13 after Southwest officials determined that he was a “safety risk” because he could not put down the armrest on his seat. Southwest offered Smith an apology and a $100 flight voucher (which he refused). His treatment left Smith fuming on his popular Twitter page:
“I know I’m fat, but was (the pilot) really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?” he tweeted. “I broke no regulation, offered no ‘safety risk’ (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?). 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…'”