A New York college student was booted from a flight during a temporary stopover after he refused to remove his F-word-emblazoned T-shirt.
Stony Brook University junior Daniel Podolsky was flying from Dallas to Chicago with Southwest Airlines on Monday when bad weather forced the plane to stop at Lambert Airport in St Louis.
He was returning from the SXSW Festival in Austin, Fox 2 Now reported.
Underneath his jacket, he was wearing a souvenir Comedy Central shirt that promotes its hit show “Broad City.” It read: “BROAD F—— CITY.”
During the delay, he went to use the restroom and removed his jacket. But after reboarding the craft he was confronted by a Southwest gate attendant.
The staffer ordered him to remove the offensive garment, saying that it breached the company’s rules. Podolsky refused and cited his “freedom of speech.”
He was then removed from the plane, and left grounded when it finally jetted off towards Chicago.
Stranded, he contacted Fox 2 Now to complain about the incident. He claimed he would have happily covered up or taken his shirt off had he been asked.
“It just happened so fast. Within thirty seconds the flight was gone. I mean I would have gladly done so,” he told the network.
But video footage he handed over of the bust-up told a slightly different story.
The clip sees an employee asking him to either change, cover up or put the shirt back on inside out. Each time, Podolsky replies: “Nope.”
Southwest Airlines defended its crew’s action.
“We rely on our employees and customers to use common sense and good judgment,” spokesman Dan Landson told Fox 2 Now.
Podolsky was eventually allowed to board a later flight to his final destination of New York – after agreeing to change his shirt.
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