L.A. food stylist pulled from flight for 'Atom Bomb' tattoo

It was the Tweet heard 'round the L.A. food world.

Noted Los Angeles food stylist Adam C. Pearson was settling into his seat aboard a Delta flight Saturday morning when the flight attendant tapped him on the shoulder and asked him to come to the front of the plane. His first thought? "I'm getting an upgrade!"

Not exactly.

Pearson was temporarily asked to step off the plane and learned that another passenger had reported him for suspicious behavior, and noted that he had the words "Atom Bomb" tattooed across his fingers. Questioned by the captain and the flight attendant, Pearson explained that the tattoos referred to a childhood nickname. After answering a few more questions, Pearson -- who is a frequent Delta passenger and has flown over 142,000 miles with the airline this year alone -- was allowed to return to his seat.

"I was just shocked," Pearson said. "All eyes were on me, I felt everyone staring at me and I was like, 'I didn't do anything.' " Before the plane took off, he twittered: "Just pulled off delta flight, passenger said I was suspicious looking due to my tattoos @DeltaAssist not happy at all #goldmedallion fail"

When he landed in Memphis, he had over 150 e-mails asking him what happened, and learned that his Tweet had exploded on the social media venue. It was "reTweeted" by many in L.A.'s close-knit food world, where Pearson is well-known for his stylish presentation of food so that it can be photographed for glossy magazines, advertisements and cookbooks. (It was laughable to many that the colorful Pearson could be considered a safety threat.)

"I had no idea all this was going on while I was in the air," Pearson said of the digital flurry. "It speaks to the power of social media."

A Delta representative told Pearson the airline would look into the incident. “A public apology would be nice,” Pearson said. “I’m not out for blood,” he added, “but why didn’t they offer to book that other person on another flight if they didn’t like my tattoos? Why was that other person more important than me?”

Later in the day, Delta spokesman Anthony Black said he did not have any knowledge of the incident but said that the pilot and flight attendant must use their judgment to handle such matters.

Pearson, who is one half of a food blogging/food photography/food styling power duo (the other half being Matt Armendariz), said he has never before been questioned about his tattoos or behavior while flying. "It really just made me kind of sad that you could just point at someone and say 'That guy is acting suspicious,' " he said. "It was just a bummer."

It was also just one of the snafus in his trip. Pearson was traveling to Milwaukee for a food styling job for Kohl's, but his first flight was cancelled. After racing around for new tickets, he was booked on the flight that would take him to Memphis and then on to Milwaukee. But a connector flight was overbooked, leaving him and his assistant with several hours to kill in Tennessee.

Like any good foodie, Pearson was finding a way to make it work: He used the Memphis layover to make a barbecue pit stop at Jim Neely’s Interstate Bar-B-Que, which is where we caught up with him.

"They've got good pig," he said.

--Rene Lynch
Twitter / renelynch

Photo courtesy Adam C. Pearson

Comments

[Natalie]

I am shocked at the responses from people here! Do you really think a "terrorist" would waltz onto a plane with the word "bomb" tattooed on his hand? Uh, no actually, if you recall, no one suspected anything when the men responsible for the 9-11 attacks boarded their flights because the key to a terrorist attack is NOT BEING REMOVED from the flight.

You guys are idiots! To say that this other passenger was justified in humiliating an innocent man because of the way he looks is no different than to say every Middle Eastern person should be removed from flights.

Personally, I'd rather not fly with the people who blend right in. Historicaly, they're the ones taking over flights and killing people.

Wow. Judging others by the way they look and not by their actions. That's really awesome, you guys. Way to go.

[link]

It kind of speaks to the choice of tattooing the word "bomb" on your fingers.

[Deepwater805]

Much ado about nothing...

[jane]

Flying has become the worst kind of fascism - anyone can make any accusation, based on a word or two words like he had (HOW likely would a real terrorist put that on his hand for pete's sake!) or outfit like a turbin or skin color - OR anyway the airline or TSA can bend over backwards to grope and sexually assault anyone who does NOT look like or meet any criteria for "suspicion." Just to prove they are randomly profiling. It IS a horrible horrible world in the air, and totally stupid - the most minimal common sense tells us the next terrorist is onto the NEXT thing, while we're still taking off our shoes to walk on filthy, bacterial floors without booties or disinfectant, being groped with bare hands "to bone" because the last jerk failed to light someone in his underwear.

The next step will be literal strip searches. WHERE is the America we USED to know/ the one that prized individual liberty, that didn't BOW to terrorists?

[Paula]

I`m shocked how peaple could be blind... There is important the heart, not somebody`s tatoos...

[Olden_Atwoody]

Isn't the purpose of having so many oddly located tattoos to generate attention?

You got it.

[Leo Sigh]

Doesn't surprise me. America, a country now ruled by fear and with a citizenry that takes paranoia to new heights, has lost the plot.

I'm so happy I left the US years ago. I now live in Asia. A place where, surprisingly, freedom of expression is light years ahead of the US.

And seriously, what kind of idiot thinks a terrorist would have 'Atom bomb' tattooed on his knuckles???

[Billy Moses]

Is it just me or does that guy look like Adam Savage from that TV show 'MythBusters'?

[Deborah]

Seriously?? I'm sure he's the nicest guy around. Even if the tattoo refers to a childhood nickname, that's not what most people think of when they see "Atom Bomb". I'm sorry he felt inconvenienced, but I am glad that people are reporting "suspicious people". That means everyone is on the lookout and in the end that's better. People need to understand that how you dress and present yourself matters. (You don't need to be rich to properly present yourself)

[Jason Saunders]

***Yawn****

This is such non-news.

Sorry dude, you have the word BOMB tattooed on your knuckles. It had to occur to you before you had that done that "some" people might think it's creepy. It comes with the package. If passenger(s) complained you were acting suspicious I EXPECT the crew to say hello and have a brief conversation to determine that you are not a threat before they get in the air; which is exactly what they did. No big whoopee.

[rick]

"I was just shocked," Pearson said. "All eyes were on me, I felt everyone staring at me and I was like, 'I didn't do anything.' "

You are completely tattooed, your earlobes are stretched, of course all eyes will be on you. Of course people will stare. Unfortunately you were judged based on your appearance. Welcome to the world.

[mizzle]

Sadly, this is all just part of the New Fascism in America which is most visible at airports. We now have the choice of being irradiated or having our genitals groped in order to fly on a plane. One man declined both and has been threatened with a $10,000 fine (watch the video: http://johnnyedge.blogspot.com/2010/11/these-events-took-place-roughly-between.html). And now apparently even if you manage to make it on the plane all it takes is some idiot to accuse you of "acting suspiciously" and into the interrogation mill you go. Freedom and liberty have become dead concepts in this country.

[Malby]

Food "stylist." Traveling all over, with an assistant. Who said we're in a recession?

[Hollywood Kev]

That's why it's not good to discriminate and Delta just lost a customer they never had!

[BLM]

What kind of a stupid moron would put a tattoo like that on himself anyway, much less make light of it on an airplane.

[Laura Levy]

Thank you for bringing this to light, LA Times... this could happen to anyone. Adam is highly respected and Delta should know their best customers. Considering he is a gold medallion member who is about to be platinum..., they should have come to his defense.