Celebrities Recall Plane Incidents, Airport Nightmares

The White Chicks actor was reportedly cited for disturbing the peace after an incident at the Denver airport in June 2023. The Air star shared his side of the story via Instagram at the time, revealing his conversation with United Airlines customer service regarding their two-bag policy.

“‘I took my three bags and I turned them into two,’” Wayans shared in the video, saying United told him there was “no more room” on the flight to accommodate any extra bags. “So then why did all those people before me and all these people after me have two bags and three bags? Interesting.”

While the airline did not refer to the comedian by name, they addressed the incident in a statement to Us at the time. “In Denver on Friday, a customer who had been told he would have to gate-check his bag instead pushed past a United employee at the jet bridge and attempted to board the aircraft. The customer did not fly on United to his destination.”

Wayans, for his part, claimed he was “targeted” by the airline.

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The Chrisley Knows Best alum detailed an incident in April 2023 in which she was allegedly thrown off of a flight after a mishap with her bags.

“I went to board my flight [from New York to Nashville] and [a Southwest Airlines employee] told me that I had to check my bag. I was like, ‘OK, if you wouldn’t mind, I’m going to take my bag on the flight, see if I can’t make it fit and if not, I’ll check it.’”

After she attempted to do so, Chrisley claimed that the employee called her an “unruly passenger” and did not want the pilot — who offered to help — to interfere on behalf of the podcast host.

“Now, I’m not going to lie, when this Southwest attendant told the pilot to calm down, I told him that there was no need for him to be an a—hole today and then he threw me off the flight,” Chrisley claimed, recalling that she told the attendant that she “absolutely” needed to get home to take care of her niece. “The Southwest attendant said, ‘I don’t care,’” Chrisley claimed. “I told him that I hope he finds a better purpose for his life. Maybe I shouldn’t have said it, but the devil came over me and Jesus did not come out.”

A rep for the airline later told Entertainment Tonight that their “initial reports indicate a different story than the one from the Customer’s account, as she arrived at the gate late in the boarding process and repeatedly insulted our Employee after being asked to gate-check her bag. … As a result, the Customer was denied boarding on her original flight, and we booked her on a later flight the same day.”

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After the “Anti-Hero” singer was ranked No. 1 on Yard’s list of the worst “celebrity [carbon dioxide emissions] offenders” in July 2022, Swift hit back.

While the digital marketing firm’s study claimed that the Grammy winner’s private jet had taken at least 170 flights in six months — “Her total flight emissions for the year come in at 8,293.54 tons, or 1,184.8 times more than the average person’s total annual emissions,” the results claimed — a spokesperson for Swift told E! News that not all of the flights (including a short stint from Missouri to Nashville) were taken by her. “Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals,” the rep explained. “To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect.”

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Zolciak-Biermann’s eldest daughter was enraged when a Delta employee allegedly “kicked my WHOLE FAMILY OFF the flight to ATL” in 2019 because “we were waiting on my dad with our service dog to finish going thru security,” she wrote via social media. (“Unacceptable Delta but police are now involved,” the Real Housewives of Atlanta alum tweeted at the time.)

Delta, however, told Us in a statement: “Mrs. Zolciak Biermann and family elected to deplane their flight after her husband remained behind to provide proper paperwork for an emotional support animal.”

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Jessie James Decker’s sister made waves in April 2023 when the country singer shared her incident with United Airlines via social media. Bass — who was “five moments pregnant, high risk, and also traveling alone with her two small children” at the time, Decker wrote — was asked to “clean up every drop” of the popcorn her daughter spilled in the aisle.

“My poor sister is on her hands and knees, crying in the aisle completely humiliated and exhausted, with her children while everyone else watched. Way to go united,” Decker wrote. The post immediately went viral, with many debating which party — the airline or Decker’s sister — was right in the situation.

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The NFL star was involved in what appeared to be a misunderstanding when attempting to fly from Miami to Los Angeles.

“Mr. Beckham fell asleep with his blanket over his head, which is his normal practice for long flights,” Beckham Jr.’s attorney told NFL Network about the November 2022 drama. “He was [awakened] and told that the plane was back at the gate and that he needed to get off the plane because he did not put his seatbelt on when asked. He responded that he was asleep, and that he would put his seatbelt on at that time. He was informed that it was too late, and that either he would have to get off the plane or everyone would have to deplane.”

The Miami-Dade police, meanwhile, said in a statement that flight attendants “called for police and fire rescue … fearing that Mr. Beckham was seriously ill. Upon the officers [sic] arrival, the flight crew asked Mr. Beckham several times to exit the aircraft, which he refused.” The athlete ultimately deplaned.

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The ASAP Mob rapper was detained at LAX in November 2021 after touching down in Los Angeles following a vacation to Barbados with partner Rihanna. Rocky was charged with two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm with allegations of personally using a firearm stemming from a 2021 incident with fellow ASAP Mob member Terrell Ephron. (Us confirmed in August 2022 that the “Fashion Killa” artist, who was released after making $550,000 bail, pleaded not guilty.)

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The Big Bang Theory alum was startled when a United Airlines flight attendant allegedly “shut the boarding gate in my face” in February 2019. Fortunately, the Blossom alum “made my connecting flight in Houston,” she said, adding: “It was a tight squeeze but You said there were plenty of open seats. when you saw my carry on suitcase you said there was no room and shut the door in my face.”

She followed up her initial allegations with another tweet that read, “There were five other people from my flight standing there with me who [the flight attendant] let on the plane. Maybe she just doesn’t like The Big Bang Theory. They all had carry-on luggage too.”

In response to Bialik’s claims, a spokesperson for United told Us at the time, “We were able to get Ms. Bialik on the next flight to Los Angeles and we are reviewing what happened with our team in Houston.”

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The Real Housewives of New York City alum was nearly involved in a mid-flight catastrophe while on a plane that was serving fish.

“Called airline mult x to say I have fish allergy. Got on & they’re serving bass. They couldn’t not serve it they said,” Frankel tweeted in 2019. “Then they were turning around which I protested bc it would delay people. Cabin asked to not serve it & pilot made announcement to plane. That was fun. #epilife.”

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The Nickelodeon alum was not having it when TSA employees at the Houston airport allegedly almost made her throw away her breast milk before boarding the aircraft.

“Breast milk discrimination at the Houston airport ruined my mood. I should’ve popped my tit out right then because the discretion and comfort of pumping is thwarted with threats to throw out over 16oz my babies food?!?!!! Why is that not a crime??” Palmer tweeted in June 2023. “I’M A MOTHER for crying out loud 😩😢.”

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According to court documents obtained by Us in 2022, Jolie alleged that Pitt “grabbed her shoulders and shook her” before “pushing her into the bathroom wall” during their 2016 flight to L.A. with their six kids.

“When one of the children verbally defended Jolie, Pitt lunged at his own child and Jolie grabbed him from behind to stop him,” the paperwork continued. “To get Jolie off his back, Pitt threw himself backwards into the airplane’s seats injuring Jolie’s back and elbow. The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other. Before it was over, Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face. Some of the children pleaded with Pitt to stop. They were all frightened. Many were crying.”

After the docs made headlines, an insider close to Pitt told Us that the allegations were “completely untrue.” The Moneyball actor was cleared of any wrongdoing by the DCFS, and the FBI closed its investigation without pressing charges.

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