Flying is a hassle under the best circumstances. It feels like the rules around when you board and where you sit are constantly changing. Hip-hop legend Sandra “Pepa” Denton recently found herself dealing with all these issues when she was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight.
According to TMZ, on Monday, Denton was traveling from Las Vegas to Nashville —“a flight she takes frequently because it’s the only direct one” — when the flight attendant told her she couldn’t have two seats, even though she paid for them. Pepa has a knee injury from a 2018 car accident and uses a knee brace, which is the reason she needed the extra seat. Her ticket was marked “disabled” and she used a wheelchair greeter.
The “Push It” rapper told the outlet that the flight attendant allegedly said “she wasn’t allowed to have both seats because she wasn’t in a cast.” However, she did eventually get to keep the two seats because she had her knee brace.
A short time later, a man asked for Pepa’s second seat, saying he was going to a funeral. While he and Denton discussed the seat, other passengers got involved in the argument. The “Whatta Man” artist “asked the man if he would swear he was truly going to a funeral, and he refused.”
She said the flight crew allegedly tried to switch her to the emergency row, but as a disabled passenger, she’s not allowed to sit in that row, because she can’t assist if there’s an actual emergency.
Once he ended up with the seat, she contacted her assistant, who told her to record the incident. Minutes later, Pepa was taken off the flight, receiving no reason for the action from Southwest.
She claims the airline allegedly said she was taken off the flight “because she was recording and they didn’t feel safe flying with her.” But Pepa said she didn’t record on the plane.
Luckily, she rescheduled her meeting in Nashville and was given a $2,500 refund from Southwest for her two seats. However, she does lose the $300 for the wheelchair greeter and $500 for car service that went unused.
Southwest explained to TMZ that its employees are claiming “Pepa did not respond to crew member instructions, and denied her boarding to ensure the safety and comfort of other passengers.”
The rap star is “exploring her legal options” concerning possible “ADA violations toward flyers with disabilities.”