Green Day singer booted off flight because of saggy pants
 

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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!

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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.