A witness on the plane with Rob O’Neill claimed the media has greatly exaggerated how the events went down when the former Navy SEAL was removed.
TMZ reported that Osama Bin Laden’s killer was “belligerent,” extremely drunk and called a flight attendant a “vile name.”
However, our witness is telling a very different version. He wrote me the following exclusive statement on what happened:
I was in that flight, he wasn’t belligerent, he didn’t cause a commotion, at least from where I was sitting just a few rows back. Not saying he was sober, not saying he should not have exercised more self control, just saying the story TMZ reported is making it appear that he did something he didn’t actually do…We heard no loud commotion, we saw no noisy scene. We watched as he got up from his seat and walk off of the plane. I wasn’t in position to hear what he said, but it wasn’t like he caused a loud and disrespectful disturbance, or some noisy scene. He simply walked off the plane. The attendants came and got his luggage, someone came in from standby and it was over. We were shocked he left. The passenger seated by us had no idea anything had even happened. I firmly believe we only noticed it because we recognized him.
A coworker reached out to O’Neill, but he has not responded as of yet. It’s also worth noting that we were one of the few publications, if not the only one on the internet, to defend O’Neill’s right to get drunk wherever he wants, whenever he wants. Killing the most wanted terrorist on the planet gets you a free pass in our book every day of the week.
UPDATE: Rob O’Neill released the following statement after finding out about the witness supporting him up:
My wife and I were celebrating her best friend’s birthday In Nashville. We had a party on Sunday and then I boarded my Flight later. They did tell me to depart the flight and re book for the next morning, which I did. I flew American the next day… twice… and am flying American right now. I truly appreciate their professionalism and patience!! I look forward to flying American for a very long time