Call it Fatty-Gate. Southwest Airlines removed film director Kevin Smith from a flight on Saturday for alleged safety and security reasons. But according to Smith, it was because he weighs in excess of 300 pounds. "I'm a fat man," Smith concedes, "but not fat enough to get ejected off a Southwest Air flight simply because of my size."
It all started when Smith arrived two hours early at Oakland Airport for his 7 pm flight to Burbank on Feb. 13. Even though Smith had purchased two seats for the flight, he decided to stand-by for the 5:30 flight instead. Shortly after he was seated between two people, the trouble began.
Smith tells the whole story in great detail on his SModcast #106:
"Generally I like to buy two seats. Southwest flights are fucking cheap. I indulge myself with two seats. I can afford to do it. I don't like to sit next to people. Often I buy the whole row...
"[The flight attendant] Suzanne said, 'We have a problem. The captain says you can't sit here. It's a safety and security issue.' She said I couldn't lower the arm rest. I put the arm rests down. Am I a terrorist? What safety issues are they talking about?
"I quietly got up and collected my bag. It was humiliating. Suzanne said she was sorry but I was taking up the space allotment."
Smith declined Southwest's offer of a $100 voucher. Then he began tweeting the story for everyone to know. "You want to embarrass me?" he says. "Guess what? You're embarrassed now.
"I want them to change their policy and stop insulting people. It sucks to be fat. Don't feel sorry for me. I'm one of the few guys sitting on top of it all. But people treat you like shit. It's a world of sizists out there. This was done by somebody who wasn't fat to someone who was just because they could. I'll eat off this story for years. I'll tell it on stage. Some of us just want to eat. Some people drink, some do drugs and some just like to eat."
For the record, Smith doesn't drink but loves to smoke pot.
Smith is best known for directing and acting in stoner movies like Clerks and Jay and Silent Strike Back. His next movie Cop Out (originally titled "A Couple of Dicks") starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan opens on Feb. 26.
