Green Day singer booted off flight because of saggy pants
 

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-...622?source=rss



Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong was booted off a Southwest Airlines flight Thursday night in Oakland for wearing his pants too low.

The Oakland punk rocker was traveling from Oakland to Burbank on a 6:40 p.m. flight when he was ordered off the plane after a heated argument with a flight attendant, a witness said.

"Just got kicked off a southwest flight because my pants sagged too low! What the (expletive)? No joke!" Armstrong tweeted that night.

Cindy Qiu, an Oakland resident flying south for the three-day weekend, had just settled into her aisle seat about 10 rows from the back when the exchange happened.

"It was a quick argument. A very tense 30 seconds," said Qiu, an associate producer for news website 7Live.

A male flight attendant in his 50s tracked down Armstrong and a male companion as they attempted to stow their bags in the overhead bins, she said.

"The flight attendant walked up to him and said, 'Pull your pants up,'" she said. "And (Armstrong) said, 'Don't you have more important things to do?'"

The male flight attendant again asked him to pull his pants up and warned him he would be kicked off the flight if he did not.

"I'm just trying to get in my (expletive) seat," the rocker responded Qiu said.

And just like that, the musician, a Rodeo native, and his friend were escorted off the plane with the flight attendant. Once the steward returned, the flight left, about 20 minutes late, Qiu said.

Southwest Airlines responded to the incident in an email late Friday.

"As soon as we became aware of what had happened, we reached out to apologize for this customer's experience," said Brad Hawkins, a Southwest spokesman. "He elected to take the next flight. We followed up with this customer and involved employees to get more details and, in our latest conversations, understand from the customer the situation was resolved to his satisfaction."

Calls to Armstrong's management were not immediately returned. Alameda County Sheriff's spokesman J.D. Nelson said his agency, which staffs Oakland airport, never responded to the Thursday night incident.

The argument was tense enough that Qiu, who did not immediately recognize Armstrong, said she avoided eye contact and never fully saw the rocker's alleged saggy pants a few feet away.

During the short flight, rumors circulated that the Green Day frontman was the ejected sagger and Qiu said she only realized who he was when she checked his Twitter page when she reached her destination.

It was not the first Bay Area airport saggy-pants imbroglio.

On June 12, a University of New Mexico football player was kicked off a U.S. Airways flight bound for Albuquerque from San Francisco over his saggy pants. Deshon Marman is now suing the airline over the incident.

Some critics said Marman, who is black, was targeted because of his race, particularly after photos emerged of a white man dressed in woman's lingerie who was allowed to board a U.S. Airways flight days before.

must have been because he was bla..

and **** that guy his music sucks ass.

Frankly, I'm happy that someone took a stand against baggy pants.

No shit, it's ****ing ghey. I'll never understand where people got the idea that it was ok to show off your underwear to other people. I keep hoping the stupid fad goes away but it never does.

I walk to this empty seat
pants are down around my knees
Gay flight attendant sees my meat
And now I have to walk alone

My shadow drags my carry-on beside me
My shadow will now shout at the ticket counter
Sometimes I wish I'd just have bought a belt
Until I do I guess I'll walk alone

****ing pussy.

Company policies should be, if you show your ass, you get kicked out on it.

Neil Young sings about it!

<iframe width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2VMUQbNpWRc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Never understood the "coolness" of baggy pants, especially from wanna be gang bangers or thugs. On COPS I saw one of them get chased by the cops, he could of got away from them but his baggy pants fell to his knees and he fell on his face ROFL Damn that was funny.

Although I share your opinion its not for me or you to decide what someone else wears. Thats a place I don't want our society or government to visit.

People have a right to dress foolishly. Walking around with one hand holding up your pants is really idiotic. But, to each his own.

Are you kidding me? There are plenty of places with dress codes and policies. In certain enviroments, there has to be "standards"

I agree. Any private business can set any policy they want. The airline can do whatever they want. I was talking about walking down the sidewalk, public places only.

And as far as I'm concerned that is its socially acceptable to wear bikins at the beach it should be socially acceptable in an office. Call me crazy.

I agree with BRC.

Those dress codes are racist anyway.

Where did I say I wanted gov't action regarding it? As far as society, yes you have a right to wear whatever you want but others also have a right to react to it in a manner they feel is appropriate as well.

The real question is....would he have been admitted to the Power & Light District?

Sorry, wasn't really a response to your post. Shoudl have posted it as a stand alone post.

Not the same level obviously but same basic principle.....our fellow citizens want to be Nazis and march down main street saying Heil Hitler. They have that right. Dude wants to wear baggy pants while he is walking down a public sidewalk.....so be it.

While I'm not an advocate for baggy pants.....if one's ass isnt showing, who the hell cares?

But I have to admit, my first thought on this was....what in the HELL is Billie Joe doing on a southwest airlines cattle-car flight?

The man is mega-rich. If not his own plane, you'd think he'd at least be on an airline that offered first-class.

I have this image of Billie Joel, stuck in the middle seat between two fat people....and the kid in front of him with the chair leaned all the way back into his lap.

This does not scream rock-star people.

I understand not wanting to be an elitist and having a persona that says "I'm an average joe, just like you"......but some things, at his income, just arent worth the hassle (such as flying coach with SW airlines).

I'm okay with this.

Good job Southwest.:clap:

I never see Mexicans wearing saggy pants?

his response? Wake me up when september ends.

Sounds like he actually got booted because he got lippy with the flight attendant. They dont put up with much lip anymore for obvious reasons.

Exactly, people have been doing this for nearly twenty years now; move onto the next ridiculous fashion embarrassment.

Actually, now that I think about it...I'm not sure I want them to do that. I'm scared of what they will come up with next.

Good point. :doh!:

I understand that it originated in the 1990's in prisons to signify ease of "access".

That's a good point as well. Can't argue with it at all.

Dude needs to grow up and dress like a man. He's not 15 anymore. Pathetic.

Fascists.

so baggy pants is a threat to national security? so ****ing what if his pants were down low. The argument started as he was putting his bags up top. So someone's gut pops out while putting a bag up top is that a warning as well to keep the people from seeing someone's belly? Its absurd. **** SWA.

In prison you "droop" to show that you're "open."

Means you're advertising for teh buttseggs...

This trend would probably die if everyone ages 30-50 would start wearing their pants in this manner. :D

It's part of his job to dress the way he does. He has to hold a public image 24/7, regardless of how stupid that image is.

That is my understanding as well.

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showp...1&postcount=25

My pants sag sometimes, but that's because I have a fat ass. And I immediately pull them up, it is so annoying when the pants fall down. I don't know why idiots do it on purpose.

I can't believe he's flying Southwest.

Dude's made a ton of money yet he can't afford a belt. Airport security should have tazed him over and over until he agreed to stop dressing like a reerun.

My initial reaction was that if the guy wants to look like a moron by having his pants around his knees, it's his right, but then I read Deberg's post and changed my mind. He's right - it's Southwest Airlines' property, and they have the right to refuse service to people who dress like toddlers.

With the way trends are going, I'm kind of hopeful that the next trend will show female nipple or involve highlighting the vulva somehow.

You try belts?

Awesome. :thumb:

I don't have any idea of Southwest's (or more specifically, the attendant's) reasoning behind telling the dude to pull up his pants, but I have to imagine there's a safety factor involved.

Crack kills.

Pretty sure it wasn't just because his pants were low, he was mouthing off because OMG I'm a celebrity! You can't tell me what to do! F*** him.

airline Nazis

Not really. No one cares about that. It's the eye liner and mascara and hairstyle that's his image. Just wear stuff that fits.

LOL! That's clever non-verbal communication.

I don't know if I'd go so far as to say it's his job, but he has the right to portray whatever image he wants. If he wants to dress like he did when he was 15, more power to him. He shouldn't get kicked off a flight for it. I thought part of our freedoms as Americans included the right to wear what we want?

It's sad that I'm only 28 and I find myself agreeing with the old guys...ahem...more seasoned gentlemen... Bugeater and Milkman. Pull up your pants!

Our freedoms as Americans also includes running our businesses as we see fit. It's not like he got thrown in jail for the way he was dressed.

The real question is, would the airline have even cared enough to issue an apology if this guy wasn't famous?

I'm just going to assume this is sarcasm.

I'm nowhere near as old as Milkman is. Hell, dirt isn't as old as Milkman is.

thats true, i forget airlines are Private Buisnesses, if they want to emplement dress codes stricter than the 1960's that is certainly their right. Just can't imagine it's good for the company's image, at least in the minds of some.

im the same age as you, I never understood the baggy pants thing either. then again, we were a generation raised by ICP, Fred Durst, Marilyn Manson and Eminem.

I'm not nearly as old as most think I am, but I was just born "old".

Big deal, those "some" people are primarily punk-ass bitches who likely don't have well-paying jobs and rarely use air travel anyway. I don't see the problem.

You didn't wear your red hat backwards, did you?

Hell no!

yeah, but when and if they do get good paying jobs and start using air travel theres a chance theyll remember the way their "punk ass" role model Billy Armstrong was treated and choose a different airline. 90 percent of my graduating class had the baggy jeans look in high school, now they're all accountants and insurance salesmen with kids and spouses. if you dont think this airline will wind up losing business because of this youre mistaken.

no i never went that far, i did have a good friend i still hang out with that had the iridescent yellow baseball jersey though that reflected in the light though.

Would he have been kicked off a regular airline flying first class?

Nice.

I died my hair blonde. I'm a bit younger than you, though.

LMAO People who see dipshit pop singers as role models rarely end up with good paying jobs.

I used to walk around wearing nothing but a diaper when I was 18 months old, but I wouldn't expect to be able to do so on an airline.

The airline will not lose business over this. They would lose business if they let people dress this way and gave people the image of them being a low-class operation.

good. I'm sick of people thinking that is OK.

Yes, they will. Hundreds of thousands of "low class" 22-25 year olds graduate college and get 30-40k starting jobs every day. If 100 of them see this article and decide to fly somewhere else, 100 people x 100 $200 tickets equals $20,000 lost. I'd venture to guess this one little incident could wind up costing them hundreds of thousands, maybe more.

than i guess theres only 10-100 million plus pleople IN THIS COUNTRY with good paying jobs. a dipshit pop singer is far more admired as a role model than a "good husband" or "good father" is any day.

For every person who isn't going to fly on an airline that won't let you walk around with your pants around your knees (spoiler alert, that's every airline), there are 10 people who won't fly on an airline that has a bunch of trashy people dressing like thugs. This isn't complicated.

By other dipshits only.

People fly based on price, period. You have no idea what you're talking about.

If the guy doesn't "wanna be an American idiot", maybe he shouldn't try so hard to look like one.

Every single post he makes is stupid. Maybe he can start up welfairlines and cater to that demographic. They can be the airline that corners the market on people who stand in welfare lines.

not Daddy's Little Girl or Biff from the local Fraternity.

Yeah, them too.

and there aren't very many of them around, are there?

Not with disposable income, there aren't.

He got booted for getting lippy, not his pants, correct? Best solution for him - fly other than Southwest from here on.

I'm no advocate of people dressing in such ways, but I am getting a kick out of the Old Fart Brigade shaking their walkers in unity of the outrage of a guy wearing baggy pants in public. :D