Salt-N-Pepa’s Pepa Says She Was Unfairly Kicked Off Flight After Giving Up Seat
Airport horror stories are becoming increasingly ubiquitous. Today, Salt-N-Pepa’s Pepa, real name Sandra Denton, lived one of her own. According to TMZ, the rapper was on a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Nashville for a meeting, and ended up being removed and deemed a safety risk.
Denton purchased two seats because of her 2018 car crash. On the plane, a flight attendant told her she could only have one seat because she wasn’t in a cast. However, she was wearing a knee brace. There was some back-and-forth before flight attendants allowed Denton to keep the extra seat.
Then, a man approached Denton and asked for the seat, saying he was heading to a funeral. More discussion ensued, with other passengers chiming in. Denton asked the man if he swore he was going to a funeral and he refused to answer. He ended up getting the seat.
Denton phoned her assistant, who suggested she record the encounter. A few minutes later, she was taken off the plane. Southwest claimed it was because she was recording and they didn’t feel safe flying with her. Denton says she didn’t record on the plane. Southwest has reimbursed Denton $2,500 for the seats. Although, she also paid $300 for wheelchair assistance from a greeter and $500 for a car service she didn’t get to use.
Southwest told TMZ that Denton was not responding to crew instructions and denied her boarding for the safety and comfort of other passengers. Denton is reportedly looking into legal options regarding ADA violations. She says flight attendants tried moving her into the emergency row, but she declined. Her boarding passes were marked as disabled, so she couldn’t assist if there were to be an emergency.
On Instagram, Denton posted a video of her talking with Southwest Airlines employees about the situation. Watch it below.