# Kevin Smith kicked off Southwest Flight **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 15, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043 "2010-02-15T06:01:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/1 "2010-02-15T06:01:44Z")
Yes, that Kevin Smith, aka [“Silent Bob”, was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight for being “too fat to fly”](http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2010/02/director-who-plays-silent-bob-ejected-from-flight-because-of-size/1?csp=hf) - his words from a Twitter posting. I’m sure this will work out real well for SWA. > [@](#): > > The director of Clerks and other movies, who is also known for playing the movie character Silent Bob in many films, fired off a round of Twitter messages aimed at Southwest. Among them, “Fair warning folks: If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air.” ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/2 "2010-02-15T06:26:02Z")
Seriously? This isn’t a joke? No stoners will **ever** fly southwest again! ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/3 "2010-02-15T06:29:21Z")
There must be more to it. He doesn’t fly economy, and he’s not THAT fat, is he? ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/4 "2010-02-15T06:34:48Z")
Yeah, I read about that. Really bizarre. I’m glad Southwest doesn’t discriminate in its anti-fat people rules, I guess, but really it seems like a terrible PR move. Kevin Smith is a fairly big celebrity and he has a really tight relationship with his fan base–just the kind of person you wouldn’t want to, you know, publicly humiliate and make a permanent enemy of… I read on another site that Southwest has already stated they will be calling him with an apology. What for? Was there some mistake? Or are they basically apologizing for kicking off a famous person? What about all the other non-famous people who get kicked off Southwest flights for being fat? Have some balls and stick with your policy if that’s really your policy, Southwest! Plus, Kevin Smith isn’t that fat! I dunno, when talking about the overweight people on the airplanes controversy, I always pictured really morbidly obese people. Yes, he is overweight–but he’s not huge. > [@](#): > > There must be more to it. He doesn’t fly economy, and he’s not THAT fat, is he? I think that that Southwest only has one class… ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/5 "2010-02-15T06:39:07Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > There must be more to it. He doesn’t fly economy, and he’s not THAT fat, is he? That was my first thought too. Apparently he’s gained weight…? At any rate, the Slashdot commentary I saw suggested that his use of Twitter to voice his displeasure, plus his celebrity, is getting the reaction fast-tracked. Apparently, Southwest (and other companies?) are very sensitive to how fast bad word of mouth can spread through Twitter. When it’s a celebrity doing the Twittering, doubly so. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/6 "2010-02-15T07:19:11Z")
Don’t most airlines just require really fat people to buy 2 seats, rather than actually kicking them off? ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/7 "2010-02-15T07:28:00Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Don’t most airlines just require really fat people to buy 2 seats, rather than actually kicking them off? I think he did pay for two but was trying to get on an earlier flight and just one seat was open. So I guess they were saying that he was too big for the one seat? Not positive about that. And yeah, he’s gained quite a bit of weight from the more recent pics I’ve seen. I’d say he’s 300 pounds-ish. Recent pic on the right: [http://media.onsugar.com/files/upl1/1/12981/44\_2008/8dea00a1bfa44ca1\_kevin-smith.larger.jpg](http://media.onsugar.com/files/upl1/1/12981/44_2008/8dea00a1bfa44ca1_kevin-smith.larger.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![2ply](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/b2d939/32.png) [@2ply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ply)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/8 "2010-02-15T07:34:28Z")
> [@Tanaqui](#): > > Kevin Smith is a fairly big celebrity _hee hee hee_ ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/9 "2010-02-15T07:34:41Z")
> [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > I’d say he’s 300 pounds-ish. Here’s some [more recent pics](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/kevin-smith-say.html). You be the judge. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/10 "2010-02-15T07:37:11Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Here’s some [more recent pics](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/kevin-smith-say.html). You be the judge. Ok I change my answer to closer to 400 pounds ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/11 "2010-02-15T08:24:43Z")
He did say in one of his Tweets that he did NOT need a seatbelt extender. I find that a little odd that their seats accommodate his size but the airline doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![chicken\_wire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@chicken\_wire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chicken_wire)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/12 "2010-02-15T08:31:45Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Here’s some [more recent pics](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/kevin-smith-say.html). You be the judge. 2008 is recent? Here’s an [article](http://www.macworld.com/article/146331/2010/02/kevinsmith.html) from Macworld, dated last Friday. Has a somewhat blurry picture of Mr Smith on stage. He’s big, but he’s not _that_ big. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/13 "2010-02-15T09:56:39Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Here’s some [more recent pics](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/kevin-smith-say.html). You be the judge. I guess we know who’ll be playing the Blob in the next X-Men movie… ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/14 "2010-02-15T11:45:45Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > He did say in one of his Tweets that he did NOT need a seatbelt extender. I find that a little odd that their seats accommodate his size but the airline doesn’t. Yeah, apparently he said on his podcast that the belt fit without an extender, and he fit in the seat with both seat arms down, which are their requirements for needing only one seat. Also, a woman was there with him, who’d also been pulled and told she was too big for one seat, and both of them felt pretty humiliated by the experience. I’m behind their decision to charge for two seats, but they have to follow their own guidelines. It also wouldn’t hurt for them to have some training in empathy and customer service. ---
**Author:** ![Xandroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/91b2a8/32.png) [@Xandroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xandroid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/15 "2010-02-15T11:47:02Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > I guess we know who’ll be playing the Blob in the next X-Men movie… Silent Blob? d&r ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/16 "2010-02-15T11:57:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Here’s some [more recent pics](http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/kevin-smith-say.html). You be the judge. Woah. He should use some of Jay’s heroin. ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/17 "2010-02-15T12:30:32Z")
It looks like he ate Jay. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/18 "2010-02-15T14:08:20Z")
I’m a big guy- about his recent size. I’ve NEVER had any problems with any airlines about being seated in one seat and I’ve ALWAYS used a seatbelt extender. Damn, he’s ballooned. Schwalbach needs to kick his ass around the house more. ---
**Author:** ![StoutHearted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@StoutHearted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StoutHearted)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/19 "2010-02-15T14:30:49Z")
I think the situation is pretty ridiculous because, according to Smith, he was able to sit down in the seat with the arm rests down and buckle his seat belt with no problem. He also was under the impression that he was not the largest person on the plane. Under those conditions, I’m pretty confused why Smith was singled out as The Fatty Who Will Bring This Plane To a Fiery Doom, especially when considered suitable to fly on another Southwest flight right after. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043/20 "2010-02-15T14:52:58Z")
As I recall, they let Hurley ride on the helicopter to the freighter and skinny Sawyer was the one who jumped off. I had to google Kevin Smith as I never heard of him. I’m wondering if there is more to this story - rowdy behavior? Haven’t read about any, maybe it was just the airlines random choice… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kevin-smith-kicked-off-southwest-flight/529043.md?page=2)