Kevin Smith Too Fat to Fly

[kdogg]

I am particularly concerned about this, given that I bear enough resemblance to have been Silent Bob for a few Halloweens and will be getting on a plane in two weeks...

www.people.com/people/article/0,,20344142,00.html

Kevin Smith's most famous role is a guy who rarely speaks. But he's got a lot to say – much of it profane – after being kicked off a Southwest Air flight because he didn't fit comfortably into the seat.

"You [messed] with the wrong sedentary processed-foods eater!" Smith, whose next film, Cop Out, comes out Feb. 26, posted on Twitter.

It was one of many Tweets recounting the actor/director's humiliating expulsion Saturday from the Oakland-to-Burbank, Calif. flight. Southwest said in a statement airline officials had called Smith to offer their "heartfelt apologies," but also stated his removal was for the "safety and comfort of all customers."

Smith, 39, originally purchased two tickets "as he's been known to do when traveling Southwest," the airline noted, but when he decided to fly standby on an earlier flight, only one seat remained. Although he had been seated, he was asked to leave.

"If a customer cannot comfortably lower the armrest and infringes on a portion of another seat, a customer seated adjacent would be very uncomfortable and a timely exit from the aircraft in the event of an emergency might be compromised if we allow a cramped, restricted seating arrangement," Southwest said.

[SouthGA_Festival Machine]

I don't see what he has to complain about. If he needs two seats when he's not flying stand-by, he needs two when he is. What about the rights of the other passengers? I guess they don't count if they're not important celebrities though.

[kdogg]

Also from the link, FWIW:
"I broke no regulation, offered no 'safety risk' (what, was I gonna roll on a fellow passenger?)" he Tweeted. "I saw someone bigger than me on THAT flight! But I wasn't about to throw a fellow Fatty under the plane as I'm being profiled. But he & I made eye contact, & he was like 'Please don't tell...'"
Us fatties have to stick together... one reason I made this thread.

Smith says he was allowed to board the plane, place his bags overhead, sit with armrests down & buckle up without the aid of an extender before he was asked to get off the plane...

Not to mention the mere fact that they even HAVE extenders demonstrates they're willing to accommodate passengers larger than he. Or that Southwest ultimately transported him to his destination, despite being deemed too fat.

Also poking around his Twitter twitter.com/THatkevinsmith and saw this:
(1/2) @bonkoif "they say you regularly buy 2 seats when flying SWA. Is that true?" I did twice this week, for 2 trips to 1hr-away Oakland, & ...
(2/2) only because a) price was cheap & b) I afforded myself "luxury" of space-seat between me & a fellow passenger on an all-1-class flight
This is a plausible explanation coming from an "important celebrity" who can most likely afford two all-one-class tickets, is it not?
If you're going to bring up double standards of treatment... how do you think the average American of Smith's dimensions would have been treated? And would you really be scared for your life if Kevin Smith was beside you on a flight?

[Deleted]

I've seen Kevin Smith in person within the past year. The idea that he's too fat to fit in an airline seat is stupid.

[kdogg]

What would you estimate his height/weight to be?

I've been trying to Google it, but the Detroit Lions running back of the same name has made it a bit of a hassle thus far.

[nodepression]

I didn't really think Kevin Smith was that fat.

[EAP]

i personally think you would probably have to be nearing 300lbs to be unable to put the arm rests down.

[kdogg]

I gave up on Googling his weight and went for 2009 pictures instead.


This one was purportedly taken on 7/25/09.

He looks bigger there than he did in my mind's eye when I first heard this.

[EAP]

^ it also looks like his jacket is WAY too big.

i hope he is at comic con again this summer! (i am going. yes, i am a dork. )

[Deleted]

He's around 5'9.

www.celebheights.com/s/Kevin-Smith-4171.html

[pondo ROCKS]

I weigh 285, am 6'ft and have flown before and never remotely had a problem.

[MrKC]

He's a big guy, but definitely not THAT big.

[boothead]

If you wouldn't mind squeezing into a seat next to a fella like that, well...

Hello, ladies

[nodepression]

Yea guy put on a lot of weight.

[Druid]

www.comcast.net/video/-clerks-director-strikes-back/1413655210/Comcast/1411918002/

[idio]

the dude is looking pretty tubby.

maybe some good will come of this - might give him a reason to rethink some of the unhealthier aspects of his lifestyle.

[Fishing Maniac]

Why is he flying some cheap sh*t airline like Southwest anyway?

[Fishing Maniac]

I doubt you'll have any trouble Kdogg. Unless you'vve doubled in size since I met you at the brunch last year, you have nothing to worry about.

Here's the "Customer of size Q&A" fro the SW web site.

www.southwest.com/travel_center/cos_qa.html

[questionablesanity]

He's def put on a lot of weight since his last good movie, which has been quite some time. I love this guy but he needs to put out something decent for a change.

[lordrockinhood]

I actually enjoyed Zack and Miri Make a Porno a lot, and Jason Mewes was hysterical NOT playing Jay for a change.

I doubt he will ever top Dogma though, 'twas his peak.

[questionablesanity]

Zack and Miri was pretty good. I forgot about that one. Dogma was def his peak.

[sadielady]

he looks way bigger than i pictured in my head, or remember him being.

do you think they knew he was kevin smith when they kicked him off the flight?

[kdogg]

Southwest pointed out that Kevin Smith often purchased two tickets for their flights... I'm assuming if they knew that much, they knew who they were dealing with?

[Deleted]

If Kevin Smith's movies were as funny as he is, he would be as rich as Judd Apatow is.

[kdogg]

A couple other things:

I found this article (from October 2008) in subsequent searching:
latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/kevin-smith-say.html
"I broke a toilet. That's how heavy I am," said Smith. "I can't take all the credit -- that was an old toilet and a very waterlogged wall -- but my size took that toilet down. I cannot cognitively reframe it and be like, 'It wasn't me -- it was the toilet.' It was definitely me. And that's a wake-up call!"

The photos with the article definitely show that he ballooned between Clerks 2 (2006) filming and late 2008.

Clerks 2:

(Released 2006, not sure when it was filmed)

Circa Zack & Miri:




Also, the link Druid posted included a mention of the North American Association for Fat Acceptance.
This leads me to ask...

...has anyone else read this book?

There is quite the interesting chapter about that organization in this book.
The author is traveling the USA investigating/indulging in the seven deadly sins... his choice for gluttony is to attend an NAAFA conference. Rather than finding rampant gluttony, which he had been hoping for, he instead discovers things like the "meat market" aspect of their conventions and how those who undergo weight-loss/control surgery are treated as pariahs by the rest of the group.
Highly recommended read.

[Deleted]

The toilet story is pretty awesome.

My brother was 6'2 around 300 lbs a few years ago, and in the past year and a half lost over 100 lbs. via exercise and the atkins diet. He lost the weight after a doctor warned him about the long term consequences of the high blood pressure caused by his weight.

Anyway, he still misses being a big guy. He had a bit of an identity crisis afterwards because he was used to being the big guy.

[pimpmcgeorge]

Feb 15, 2010 20:50:59 GMT -5 kdogg said:

A couple other things:

I found this article (from October 2008) in subsequent searching:
latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/10/kevin-smith-say.html
"I broke a toilet. That's how heavy I am," said Smith. "I can't take all the credit -- that was an old toilet and a very waterlogged wall -- but my size took that toilet down. I cannot cognitively reframe it and be like, 'It wasn't me -- it was the toilet.' It was definitely me. And that's a wake-up call!"

The photos with the article definitely show that he ballooned between Clerks 2 (2006) filming and late 2008.

Clerks 2:

(Released 2006, not sure when it was filmed)

Circa Zack & Miri:




Also, the link Druid posted included a mention of the North American Association for Fat Acceptance.
This leads me to ask...

...has anyone else read this book?

There is quite the interesting chapter about that organization in this book.
The author is traveling the USA investigating/indulging in the seven deadly sins... his choice for gluttony is to attend an NAAFA conference. Rather than finding rampant gluttony, which he had been hoping for, he instead discovers things like the "meat market" aspect of their conventions and how those who undergo weight-loss/control surgery are treated as pariahs by the rest of the group.
Highly recommended read.

Wow, it looks like Kevin Smith found the weight that Seth Rogen lost. I really don't remember him ever being that fat.

[cdevaney]

After following this drama live via twitter on Sunday, I've been listening to his "SModcast" telling his side of the story off and on since yesterday. It's a pretty compelling story of how SW bungled this. His blog has some retellings of subsequent conversations with someone from SW.

The fact of the matter is that if he fits their criteria (able to put the armrests down and wear a seatbelt) then they were wrong to remove him. Especially since he had flown in a single seat on one of their planes earlier during the trip. (I think it was the same day.)

SW needs to admit that they were wrong in their decision to remove him instead of trying to continue to defend their actions.

There's a pretty heartbreaking story about a big girl sitting next to him on his next flight that was warned that they might toss her, too.

Here's the SModcast (complete with the score from Airplane! in the background):

www.smodcast.com/ (You're looking for #106, "Go F*ck Yourself, Southwest Airlines")

[Del Griffith]

i wonder if he has jared from subway on speed dial??

or richard simmons' email addy??

[kdogg]

I'm sure they exchanged emails when while Simmons was supervising Smith being airlifted from the plane