Salt-N-Pepa‘s Sandra Denton recounts a strange encounter leading to her immediate removal from a Southwest Airlines flight.
Speaking with TMZ on Wednesday (July 17), the Grammy-winning artist revealed that the drama started when she refused to give up one of the two seats she had paid for, which provided extra legroom due to an injury, to another passenger.
“I got on the plane. I had my brace with me but didn’t have it on at that particular moment. I took it out my bag to put it on – I was stretching my legs,” she said.
During this incident, Denton recalled being approached by a flight attendant who initially tried to give her seat away, but quickly backtracked, acknowledging his mistake. “I just said ‘thank you,’” she added.
However, moments later, Pepa found herself in another pickle when a man approached her, claiming he was headed to a funeral. When he refused to “swear” he was telling the truth, the iconic rapper also turned down his request.
Pepa pointed out that the only empty seat on the flight was the one next to her, which she had purchased.
“Next thing I know they got back on the plane. The flight attendant said ‘Get your things. You’re getting off.’”
Maintaining that there was no argument with either herself, the passengers, or the flight attendants, Denton described the entire situation as very strange.
“When I got off the plane, sadly they had three police officers waiting for me. I turned around and I said ‘This is for me?’ – “They escorted me out the airport,” she concluded.
It’s worth noting that Southwest refunded Pepa $2500 for the two seats she paid for. The airline stated that police became involved because after she was refunded, she did not have a valid ticket, and it is standard procedure for police to escort unticketed individuals from the terminal.
Additionally, the outlet reports that Southwest claims it removed her from the flight because she did not follow a crew member’s instructions. However, it remains unclear how she was not in compliance with the crew’s instructions.