Salt-N-Pepa's Sandra Denton says she was KICKED OFF a Southwest Airlines flight after refusing to give up a second seat she paid for By Brian Marks For Dailymail.com Published: 00:22, 16 July 2024 | Updated: 00:24, 16 July 2024 e-mail 71 shares 11 View comments Salt-N-Pepa member Sandra 'Pepa' Denton documented an incident in which she was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight heading from Las Vegas , Nevada , to Nashville, Tennessee , on Monday. The 59-year-old rapper shared a video to Instagram apparently showing the aftermath of the confrontation, after she had already left the jet .
In the video, which featured her speaking to employees, she claimed that the issue began after one of the featured employees questioned her about having two seats. Denton also claimed that another man asked for her seat — and he was apparently given it after she was escorted off the jet. In a statement to DailyMail.
com, Southwest said: 'Our Flight Crews are responsible for the Safety and Comfort of all Passengers in the cabin. With that in mind, they denied boarding to the Customer and her ticket was refunded.' Salt-N-Pepa member Sandra 'Pepa' Denton documented an incident in which she was removed from a Southwest Airlines flight heading from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday Instagram video showed a confrontation after the fact with Southwest employees.
She claims she was accosted for having a second seat, despite having purchased it An attorney for Denton declined to comment. The musician was taking the flight to a meeting in Nashville, and she often chooses the same flight, as she said it is the only direct flight to the music-focused city from Vegas, according to TMZ . She said she opted to purchase two seats due to a leg injury related to a 2018 car crash, and she also had a greeter take her in a wheelchair up to the plane door.
Southwest famously allows passengers to choose their own seats once they get on the plane, rather than forcing customers to choose seats beforehand and charging extra for less uncomfortable seats, as most other airlines do. Denton claims that she was approached by a man, who was seen speaking to her in her video, about why she had two seats. He claimed in the video that he asked her because he didn't see a cast or brace, though she had a brace with her and allegedly put it on after the conversation.
It's unclear if it was made known to the employee that Denton had purchased tickets for two seats, or if he may have been under the impression that she was using a second seat without having paid for it due to an alleged medical condition. However, he notes in the video that Southwest has a policy allowing large customers to get a second seat in some instances , though he told Denton that she wasn't 'encroaching' on the seat next to her, so he assumed that was not the reason that she had a seat. The video doesn't clarify why exactly Pepa was kicked off the flight after that first encounter.
She says in the clip that a man asked for her seat, and then the employee who first questioned her indicates that she was removed for filming on the flight. She told TMZ she bought a second seat due to a leg injury from a car crash years earlier. But Denton said employees quizzed her on having a second seat.
She claimed a male passenger asked for her seat because he was going to a 'funeral,' but he refused to prove it to her. An employee (pictured) claimed to Denton that she was removed for filming the crew Southwest did not answer a question about its policy on passengers filming their interactions with flight crews. Denton shot back that she had never filmed while on the plane, and she claimed she was merely on a call to her assistant, and it wasn't until she was out of the jet that she began filming.
It didn't appear that the employees were going to be reversing the decision, though, and he and another woman that Denton said was involved in the kerfuffle tried to get her to leave the walkway to the jet, as it was about to leave and the walkway would be moving. Toward the end of the clip, she forcefully shouts at the employee after turning her camera toward the exit, though it's unclear if he touched her as she began slowly walking away. During the altercation, Denton had her two tickets held out in front of the camera to prove she had paid for both seats, though Southwest has now refunded them.
The airline did not respond to questions about whether it had contacted Denton in response to the incident, but she indicated to TMZ that she is considering possible legal actions against the airline. In her video, she mentioned a male passenger who asked her to give up her second seat. While speaking to TMZ, Denton claimed that the man told her he needed the second seat because he was heading to a funeral.
It's unclear if no other seats were open on the flight at the time that he asked her. The rapper said she tried explaining to the man that she had the seat due to an injury, and she said other passengers began arguing about whether or not she should have to give up the seat after she paid extra for it. She appeared to think the man's story was suspicious, and Pepa said she asked hi to swear that he was taking the flight to a funeral, though she claims that he then refused to do so, and apparently didn't provide any proof to her that he was going to a funeral.
She notes that her assistant urged her to record the entire ordeal, though she claims she did not do so. But after that, she was told she had to leave the flight by staff, though she claims no reason was given for the ejection. Denton claims that after the man asked for her seat, the crew tried to move her to an exit row, but since she was injured and disabled she wouldn't have been able to assist in the event of an emergency The rapper said she was refunded her $2500 for tickets but lost out on what she paid to get taken in a wheelchair to the plane and what she paid for a car service in Nashville.
She said she's exploring legal options; pictured in 2021 in NYC According to Denton, that man who claimed he needed her second paid-for seat ended up getting it after she was kicked off the flight. It's unclear what role the man played in her ejection, but the Salt-N-Pepa member also alleged that flight attendants tried to move her into an exit row, which she would not have been able to sit in, as her injury would have prevented her from assisting with evacuation if there was an emergency. She clarified that she was able to reschedule the meeting she was traveling to in Nashville, but she paid for the greeter to ferry her to the plane, and she also lost the $500 she paid for car service at her destination.
However, Denton said Southwest refunded the $2500 she paid for her tickets. Share or comment on this article: Salt-N-Pepa's Sandra Denton says she was KICKED OFF a Southwest Airlines flight after refusing to give up a second seat she paid for e-mail 71 shares Add comment.
