Salt-N-Pepa’s Sandra Denton Threatens Legal Action After Being Kicked Off Southwest Airlines Flight
Salt-N-Pepa member Sandra Denton has called out Southwest Airlines after she claims she was wrongly kicked off a flight and treated like a criminal.
According to the rap legend, who spoke with TMZ about the incident, she is considering taking legal action against Southwest Airlines in response to her negative experience. Denton says she purchased two individual seats next to one another to have more leg space, as she is suffering from an injured knee, but admits she was not wearing a protective brace at the time.
Prior to the flight departing for its destination, Denton says another customer was allowed to board the plane, despite all of the seats already being booked, and requested that she allow him to use the extra seat she had booked for herself.
The customer claimed that he was in the process of traveling to a funeral and wanted to use Denton’s seat, as it was the only empty seat remaining on the flight. However, Denton felt that the man was being distruthful about his circumstance and that he was not traveling to a funeral, prompting her to deny his request.
From there, Denton claims that a Southwest Airlines flight attendant ordered her to grab her belongings and exit the plane, leading a shocked Denton to announce that she would begin to record the encounter. This reportedly upset the flight attendant, who said she did not consent to being recorded. According to Denton, another flight attendant began to address her, forcefully commanding her to exit the plane, shouting, “You, Denton, off!”
After obliging the flight attendant’s directive, Denton was further surprised when she was met by three police officers upon exiting the plane, who escorted her out of the airplane terminal. This led the rap legend to feel criminalized, as she maintains she kept a calm demeanor throughout the encounter, which was backed up by fellow passenger Shannon McCormack, per TMZ.
Denton was refunded the $2,500 she paid for both seats, but remains adamant about the unwarranted mistreatment she was subjected to by the airline, thus inspiring her to go public with her outrage. According to Southwest Airlines, Denton was booted from the flight after she “failed to listen to a crew member’s instructions,” but the airline did not specify the instruction she was given.
Southwest Airlines also says that the reasoning behind Denton being escorted by police is due to her not being a ticketed customer after having received her refund for her seats, which is customary procedure in such a situation.
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