Being stuck on a plane can be uncomfortable at the best of times, but navigating a rude seatmate can be downright painful. Model Natalie Hage found this out when she confronted a plane passenger who “fat-shamed” her by sending “mean and ugly” texts about her weight while she sat next to him.
In an Instagram post, she explains how the stranger began “huffing and sighing” when she sat next to him on an American Airlines flight to Los Angeles. Hage, who is an “anxious” flyer, paid for the extra legroom — but was placed in a middle seat as there were no others available.
“As soon as I sat down… I see him furiously texting and then purposefully turning the phone away from me. So, naturally next time he texts, I take a look,” she posted.
Unbeknownst to him, Hage is also an admin of legendary anti-body-shaming movement @effyourbeautystandards on Instagram. She shared a photo of the man’s phone on Instagram, which shows the insulting messages about Hage he was sending.
“If you can’t read the texts, it says ‘hopefully she didn’t have any Mexican food,’” she explained. “His response is ‘I think she ate a Mexican’.”
The man went on to claim in the text messages that he was “leaving a neck mark on the window because he was so smashed against the wall.”
Hage didn’t agree. “From the photos, you can see I’m not in his space. He’s taken over both arm rests on purpose, coming to my space and digging his elbows into my side… which is in my seat.”
The bully sent a stream of cruel messages after — including: “If the news reports a DFW airbus a321 leaving the runway without rotating, that would be my flight.”
Despite explaining what the cruel stranger had said, the passenger to her right refused to swap places and laughed. Yes, laughed.
In another post, Hage uploaded a video of her confronting the man, in which he initially denied sending the texts, claimed he was drinking before getting defensive and suggesting he was “nice” to her by offering a corner of his tray table. The man then suggested Hage was unfit to sit in the exit row. She went on to explain that she was on her way to a modeling shoot and the effect words can have.
“I couldn’t NOT speak up,” she wrote in the post’s caption. “I’m so tired of fat people being a social punching bag. I won’t stand for it.”
The model says she was “just so upset” by the vile abuse from the passenger and described it as “a fat person’s daily reality.”
“This is on a bus, standing in line at the grocery store, at a concert, on the internet. You can be completely in your own space, not bothering one and people will still f–k with you and try to hurt you. All you can do is know you haven’t done anything wrong just by existing and to move on.”
We’re with Hage on that.
