Sandra “Pepa” Denton, who forms half of the hit group, Salt-N-Pepa, claimed she was forced off a Southwest Airlines flight and treated like a criminal.
The famous rapper spoke out about the alleged incident Wednesday on “TMZ Live.” She said she purchased two seats aboard a Southwest Airlines flight headed to Nashville from Las Vegas, Monday. Denton said she required the additional seat to give herself space for an injured knee. She noted she had taken off her protective brace in order to stretch out her leg, when a flight attendant approached and scolded her for taking up two spots on the plane. That’s when the situation allegedly took yet another turn.
The famous hip hop star went on to allege that even though the airplane was booked to capacity, the airline allowed a man to board the flight, and he approached her rather suddenly. She said the man claimed to be requiring her extra seat to get to a funeral. She said she further questioned his story to ensure he wasn’t lying about the funeral. She claims she saw his lip quiver and that he refused to double down, so she interpreted that as a lie.
Just as she was preparing to address the matter, a flight attendant allegedly approached her and demanded that she exit the plane. Denton said she immediately felt mistreated as she was calm and hadn’t done anything to warrant being kicked off the flight, so she began recording what was unfolding in front of her, as seen in the TMZ video.
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – JULY 02: Sandra “Pepa” Denton and Cheryl “Salt” James of Salt-N-Pepa perform perform onstage during night 3 of the 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture™ at Caesars Superdome on on July 02, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)
The next thing she knew, Denton said police were at the gate to greet her and escort her out of the airport — for reasons she still does not understand.
“This is for me? I was like wow.”
“They was waiting for me to escort me out the airport!” Denton exclaimed.
Shannon McCormack, another passenger on the plane who was seated in the same row as Denton, independently reported that she witnessed the scene and corroborated Denton’s claims that the star was calm and collected the whole time, according to TMZ. McCormack went on to say the flight attendant became agitated when Denton started recording, and shouted, “You, Denton, off!”
Southwest Airlines refunded Denton the $2500 for both her seats, TMZ reported.
Since she was no longer a valid ticket holder when the refund was issued, the airline said it’s standard policy for police to escort people out of the building if they do not possess a plane ticket, according to TMZ. (RELATED: Chrissy Teigen Details Terrifying Incident Aboard Plane)
They claimed the famous rapper was asked to leave the flight after failing to listen to a crew member’s instructions but wouldn’t detail what the instruction was that she failed to follow, TMZ alleged. Denton suggested her attorney would handle the matter from this point forward.
