A Korean DJ has accused American Airlines crew of harassing and humiliating her after she was kicked off a flight from New York to Los Angeles for wearing sweatpants with “F**k You” printed on it.
“I GOT KICKED OFF FROM @AmericanAir flight and they harassed me to take off my sponsored @RIPNDIP 'F**K YOU' sweatpants in front of people to board again, DJ Soda (real name Hwang So-hee) posted on Twitter on April 26.
DJ Soda narrated that “yesterday coming back from JFK to LAX with American Airlines, I was harassed and humiliated. I was forced out of the plane and was harassed to take off my pants in front of the flight crews at the gate.”
“I have never had an issue with wearing this pair of pants before in my many months of touring in North America and they did not have any problem with me wearing it at the time of check-in nor when I sat down at my seat,” she said.
According to her, “A staff suddenly approached me to pack up my belongings and leave the plane without any kind of explanation. As I was escorted off the plane, they claimed that my sweatpants were ‘inappropriate’ and ‘offensive’ telling me that I need to take the next flight.”
“I had an important meeting set up in LA on that day, so I could not afford to get off this flight. I pleaded to stay on the flight but was ignored by the staff and the flight attendants. I even offered to get changed but the request was denied. What happened next was horrendous,” she said.
Under American Airlines’ conditions of carriage, passengers must “dress appropriately; bare feet or offensive clothing aren’t allowed.”
DJ Soda currently has her Starlight Tour in the US.
“With my broken fingers, I hardly ended up taking off my pants in front of the whole crew and standing half-naked while they still refused to board me on the flight. They even sarcastically commented that I could have taken off my pants earlier,” said DJ Soda.
She said that “when they finally let me enter, I put my pants inside out and finally sat down after an hour of delay causing inconvenience to the members of the flights on board.”
“I was mortified and trembling in fear for the next 6 hours on my flight back to LA. In my 8 years of touring, I have never experienced or been treated unfairly, especially in a country that is known for its freedom of speech and individuality,” she added.
DJ Soda declared that “from now on, I will be boycotting @AmericanAir and hope this NEVER happens to anyone ever again.”
