"Silent Bob" Thrown Off Southwest Flight For Being Too Large

By: Matthew Keys

OAKLAND - He wasn't even supposed to be there that day.

Filmmaker Kevin Smith, fresh from delivering a speech at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco, unleashed his fury on Southwest Airlines after the pilot on Smith's flight from Oakland to Burbank ejected him for being "too fat to fly" Saturday evening.

"I'm way fat, but I'm not there just yet," Smith wrote on his Twitter.com account after the incident, adding that he was able to lower both arm rests at his seat. "I broke no regulation."

Southwest Airlines measures whether a customers too large to fly based on the passenger's ability to lower both armrests while sitting on the plane. If the passenger cannot lower one or both armrests, the carrier typically requires the passenger to purchase an additional seat or make arrangements on other flights that may accommodate for extra space.

"Wanna tell me I'm too wide for the sky?" Smith inquired on his Twitter account. "Totally cool, but fair warning folks: If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air."

The director of Clerks and Chasing Amy, who is also known for playing a character named "Silent Bob" in several films, added that Southwest Airlines did offer him a $100 voucher for his troubles. Additionally, Smith wrote that a female passenger seated next to him was also "chastized for not buying an additional seat."

A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines wrote an apology on the company's Twitter account following the Twitter-lashing unleashed by Smith Saturday evening.

Smith is expected to further address the Southwest Airlines issue on his podcast Sunday evening. The director eventually landed in Burbank on another flight.



Sulamérica Trânsito

Sphere: Related Content