A South Korea DJ and influencer has claimed she was kicked off an American Airlines flight and "harassed" because of her leggings. DJ Soda, whose real name is Hwang So-hee, detailed her experience in an Instagram post. During the incident, she was wearing black leggings with the words “F*** you” repeated all over. She says she was forced to take off the leggings in front of flight crew as she prepared to fly out to Los Angeles from New York.
“Yesterday coming back from JFK to LAX with American Airlines, I was harassed and humiliated. I was forced out of the plane and was harassed to take off my pants in front of the flight crews at the gate,” she wrote on Instagram.
"They did not have any problem with me wearing it at the time of check-in nor when I sat down at my seat," continued the influencer, who is 36-years-old, according to Insider.
Hwang claims that she was sitting in business class when an American Airlines staff member asked her to pack up and leave without providing any explanation. While being escorted off the aircraft, she was told her expletive-laden leggings were “inappropriate”.
“As I was escorted off the plane, they claimed that my sweatpants were ‘inappropriate’ and ‘offensive’ telling me that I need to take the next flight,” she wrote. Hwang explained she had an important meeting in LA and requested to be allowed to stay on the same flight. She also offered to change in the bathroom, but what happened next left her horrified.
The DJ claims she was asked to undress in front of the crew. “With my broken fingers, I hardly ended up taking off my pants in front of the whole crew and standing half-naked while they still refused to board me on the flight,” she alleged. “They even sarcastically commented that I could have taken off my pants earlier.”
I GOT KICKED OFF FROM @AmericanAir flight and they harassed me to take off my sponsored @RIPNDIP 'F**K YOU' sweatpants in front of people to board again. pic.twitter.com/YU0TrhZjry— djsoda (@dj_soda_) April 26, 2022
“I was mortified and trembling in fear for the next 6 hours on my flight back to LA. In my 8 years of touring, I have never experienced or been treated unfairly, especially in a country that is known for its freedom of speech and individuality,” she wrote, adding that she would boycott American Airlines.
The airline told Daily Mail that its policies prevent offensive clothing. “During the boarding process for American Airlines Flight 306 at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), our team members informed Ms. So-hee of our policies and provided her the opportunity to change out of clothing displaying explicit language,” it said. “The customer complied with requests and was allowed to continue travel, as planned, to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).”
