Southwest responds to Leisha Hailey: 'Behavior and not gender'

This post has been updated. See below for details.

A Southwest Airlines crew approached actress-musician Leisha Hailey after other passengers complained that she and her girlfriend's kissing was "excessive," the airline said Monday in a statement, explaining that the crew made the decision to escort the couple off the plane after the discussion "escalated."

Southwest said that its crew had "approached the passengers based solely on behavior and not gender" after receiving "several passenger complaints characterizing the behavior as excessive."

Hailey complained Monday via Twitter that they had been booted from the flight "for being gay," calling for a boycott of the airline and invoking the names of director Kevin Smith and Green Day musician Billie Joe Armstrong, who previously were asked to leave flights because of weight and saggy pants, respectively.

"This is an outrage," Hailey tweeted. "I demand a public apology by @SouthwestAir and a refund. Hate is not a family value. I will never fly this airline. We were escorted off the plane for getting upset about the issue. @SouthwestAir endorses homophobic employees. No one made her accountable."

According to Southwest, "The conversation escalated to a level that was better resolved on the ground, as opposed to in flight."

The airline said it was prepared to "work directly with the passengers involved to offer our heartfelt apologies for falling short of their expectation.

An hour before the airline posted a link to the statement on its Twitter page, Hailey was retweeting a comment calling attention to a page on the Southwest website where the airline had highlighted its "outreach and commitment to the GLBT community." Southwest is the official airline of GLAAD and other similar groups.

[Updated, 6:45 p.m. Sept. 26: The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation contacted Southwest on Monday to call for additional actions beyond the airline's statement, to "ensure all customers feel comfortable and welcomed while traveling," Herndon Graddick said in a statement. Graddick is GLAAD's senior director of programs.]

RELATED:

Josh Duhamel kicked off a plane in New York over texting

Leisha Hailey escorted off Southwest flight after kissing girlfriend

Kevin Smith continues to tweet fire at Southwest, may take his story to Larry King

— Christie D'Zurilla
twitter.com/dzurillaville

Photos: Kevin Smith, left, Leisha Hailey and Billie Joe Armstrong. Credits: Danny Moloshok / Associated Press, left; Paul Michaud / Showtime, center; Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times, right.

 

Kevin Smith loses 65 pounds, still 'frustrated' with Southwest

Director Kevin Smith hasn't finished mouthing off about being kicked off a Southwest Airlines plane, allegedly for being too fat. He has shed 65 pounds, but he hasn't shed his frustration.

Smith was supposed to be promoting his controversial new film "Red State" on Joy Behar's HLN talk show Tuesday, but instead ranted about his weight after Behar prompted him about the incident, which will have taken place a year ago this Sunday.

"What frustrated me more than anything in the world was I felt like nobody told the real story," Smith said. "The real story was I was a consumer that a company ... with poorly and without good reason and I spoke up about it ... but to everyone else it was 'fat guy in a little chair.'"

He said that he was appropriately buckled into his seat but was asked to deplane because he was being "profiled."

Smith, 40, spoke quickly and animatedly, lightheartedly joking about the incident and showing off the extra fabric flailing about his frame.

"I feel mixed feelings about losing the weight. I sympathize far more with heavier people than I ever will with thin," he said. "I'll never be thin. Let's be honest,  I've lost 65 pounds but nobody's going 'I want to sleep with you,' they're just like, 'Keep going, you look better keep going.'"

The hockey-jersey-clad "Clerks" director told Behar that wearing tent-like clothing is easier because he wanted to make a point, and because he had spent most  his life yo-yoing between weights.

When Behar told him to enjoy being thin, Smith chuckled. "No, I can't," he said. "I have to talk about it, obviously."

Well, we're glad he's taking it in stride.

RELATED:

Kevin Smith ponders the fate of his career in Sundance

Kevin Smith's 'Cop Out' star: Southwest Airlines was unfair

PREACH IT! Kevin Smith continues to tweet fire at Southwest [poll]

-- Nardine Saad
twitter.com/NardineSaad

Kevin Smith ponders the fate of his career in Sundance

 

Kevin Smith is making his Sundance rounds (so far without transport issues) and stopped by the Bing Bar to discuss his controversial new flick, "Red State."

Though Smith, a '90s phenomenon for his film "Clerks," is courting political tension with the new thriller, wherein a cult-like conservative group wreaks havoc on sex-seeking teens, he's also aware of the state of his career.

After seriously upsetting journalists and potential film buyers with a bait-and-switch on the distribution rights to his film, he reflected on Sundance making his career (where "Clerks" was sold) and his latest visit — the beginning of the end?

"I am a creature of Sundance. I made my career here, and tonight I might have destroyed my career here," he told Bing.  

"Or created the second phase of the career."

There's that Smith optimism. What do you think of Kevin's snowcapped drama? Tell us in the comments section below.

RELATED:

Kevin Smith's 'Cop Out' star: Southwest Airlines was unfair

PREACH IT! Kevin Smith continues to tweet fire at Southwest, may take his story to Larry King [poll]

— Matt Donnelly
Twitter.com/MattDonnelly

 

 

MLK Day: Celebrities share Martin Luther King Jr. quotes

As the United States honors the birthday of slain civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., it's no surprise that some celebrities (and normal folk as well) have taken to Twitter to pass along his message either verbatim or by showing what the day means to them.

Here's a look at what some of them had to say Monday:

Sean Combs asked you a question, Ministry readers. Don't leave him hanging; share your dreams in our comments section.

RELATED:

Photos: Remembering Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.

-- Whitney Friedlander

Photo: Martin Luther King Jr. addresses 15,000 people at the Los Angeles Coliseum during an interfaith rally in 1964. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Kevin Smith's 'Cop Out' star: Southwest Airlines was unfair

Director Kevin Smith's weighty issue with Southwest Airlines even has his actors buzzing. 

Crossover star Ana de la Reguera, who plays a Mexican politician's mistress in Smith's "Cop Out," says Smith is completely in the right for tweeting up a storm over the issue.

"Good for Kevin that he’s saying that, all over the place and Twitter," de la Ruguera tells me. "It’s not fair, and there are a lot of people in America that are his size. You have to be open with that and treat them the same."

The award-winning Mexican thesp thinks Smith didn't jump on an offer from Larry King because he's close to over it.

"He has a sense of humor," she said. "He’s going to be OK."

Sense of humor indeed. As Gabrielle in the Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan buddy flick that opens Feb. 26, De la Ruguera's character doesn't speak a lick of English. She's got the look of a damsel in distress but the mouth of a truck driver, something she and Smith devised for fun.

"I have a very dirty mouth, even if you don’t understand what I’m saying. I look very sweet, but I'm actually saying stuff like" -- well, like stuff we can't say here.

The same kisser was recently put to other uses, with "X-Men" hunk Hugh Jackman.

PREACH IT! Kevin Smith continues to tweet fire at Southwest, may take his story to Larry King [poll]

The people who run Southwest Airlines seemed pretty pleased with themselves after their poorly explained treatment of director Kevin Smith this week. But Smith sure isn’t done -- and neither is the media.

Less than 48 hours after Smith was booted off of a Southwest flight (supposedly for being too plump, even though he fit well into his seat and there was a fatter guy on the same plane) the “Cop Out” director has become a hot commodity on the talk show circuit.

(Full disclosure: Smith is also a hot commodity with us. We at the Ministry have been trying to get an interview with him all day. No success.)

ABC, for one, has gotten aggressive. Per Smith, "Good Morning America” “show[ed] up at my house last night.” (We didn’t know the GMA people existed after sunset. That’s kind of cool. But we digress.)

Also, Larry King wants Smith badly. This morning, via the handle @kingsthings, the CNN talk show host tweeted that he wanted to interview Smith about the Southwest incident. Smith tweeted back, “I'm in L.A., you're in D.C. So please understand when I say this: I'm not going anywhere NEAR an airport again this week.”

King tweeted back, “Good news: I'm in LA, too. No need to go to airport. Would love for you to stop by tonite (sic) and we can talk.”

PREACH IT! Why pay for cable when you can watch celebrity Twitter wars for free?

Honestly, I have no idea why people say the Internets are poisoning our brains and wasting away our fine nation. Those people obviously have never enjoyed a decent celebrity Twitter war.

They have never watched Lindsay Lohan air every detail of her spats with Sam Ronson, or observed Ashton Kutcher publicly debone a neighbor for daring to remodel a house, or decoded WHATEVER IT IS THAT KIRSTIE ALLEY IS RAGING ABOUT IN ALL CAPS.

If there’s one beautiful thing that the new millennium has brought to Hollywood, it’s a kind of delicious communications chaos. Publicists no longer have the power they once wielded over when and how a star would say stuff, and Twitter is ground zero for that Tinseltown Ragnarok. John Mayer directly spatting with Perez Hilton over a street fight involving the Black Eyed Peas? Merry Christmas in June!

The latest example of social media bread and circuses: Kevin Smith waging a siege worthy of Caesar against religious zealot Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of the Rev. Fred Phelps. Smith’s allies: comedic actors Rainn Wilson and Michael Ian Black, who also tweeted against the anti-gay bigot.

It all went down this week, and make no mistake: It was 14 flavors of righteous...

Star-spotting: 25 offbeat places to impress the guests

The turkey was delicious, the mashed potatoes rich and creamy, and that pumpkin pie -- well, nobody threw it at Grandma, even after she decided to tell everyone they needed a haircut.

So it's Friday, and you're facing the brutal truth: The relatives aren't going home any time soon. They're up and raring to go, they've already done Disneyland and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and the "Law & Order" marathon can go on only so long before someone takes the law into his or her own hands. Now what?



[Updated on Feb. 25, 2010: Sorry for the inconvenience -- because of a technical problem with our photo gallery, the link below and the photo gallery link to the right no longer work. The star-spotting list is no longer available.]

Fear not, the Ministry is here to help. 

We have a list (in the form of a photo gallery) of a few off-the-beaten-track sites celebrities have been known to frequent.

We can't guarantee you'll see George Clooney or Megan Fox during your trek, but we can offer some roll-of-the-dice spots where we've caught glimpses of the stars.

 Check it out -- and leave us a comment sharing your favorite spot to see celebrities.

-- Lisa Fung, Matt Donnelly, Scott Sandell, Christie D'Zurilla

Photo: The Hollywood Walk of Fame -- been there, done that? Click on the photo gallery at right for other potential star-spotting options. Credit: Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times

Follow the Ministry of Gossip on Facebook and Twitter (we're @LATcelebs).