Celebrities Slam United Airlines After Passenger Was Dragged from His Seat

Passenger United Airlines
Jerome Hudson

Celebrities took to their favorite social media platforms Monday and skewered United Airlines after a viral video posted online showed Chicago law enforcement officers forcibly removing a man from an overbooked flight.

As Breitbart News reported, United Airlines flight attendants asked for four volunteers to give up their seats so four United Airlines employees could make their trip Friday. After no one volunteered, a man, who identified himself as a medical doctor, was randomly selected.

When he refused to give up his seat, United had officers remove him — but he wasn’t leaving without a fight. Video, which went viral online, shows the man screaming as officers pull his unconscious body from the flight.

Another video appeared to show the same man with blood running down his face.

It didn’t take long before outraged celebs flooded social media reacting to the incident. Some, including actor Josh Gad and director Joss Whedon, posting humorous comments, while others, like film director Ava DuVernay, shamed United Airlines.

Actor Kumail Nanjiani called the Chicago police officers seen in the video “monsters.”

https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/851448695753121792

Actor and late-night comedian Andy Richter made a connection between the United flight incident and the presidential election.

One late-night host also ripped United.

“I’m glad none of you were yanked off your plane,” Jimmy Kimmel told his audience Monday during his opening monologue.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV28_ENzFog

Oscar Munoz, the chief executive of United Airlines, called the episode “an upsetting event to all of us here at United.”

“I apologize for having to reaccommodate these customers,” Munoz said in a statement. “Our team is moving with a sense of urgency to work with the authorities and conduct our own detailed review of what happened. We are also reaching out to this passenger to talk directly to him and further address and resolve this situation.”

Munoz also explained to United employees, in a company-wide email, that it was “necessary” to call the police on the man in the video.

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson

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