After accidentally hitting the call button in an airplane restroom, Tess Holliday says a United Airlines flight attendant showed up and lectured her for 10 minutes about her weight — with the body positive activist sharing how she responded in the moment, and what she did next.
Model and activist Tess Holliday is calling out United Airlines after she says a flight attendant delivered a completely unhinged and unsolicited piece of “advice” while she was flying first class.
The body positive trailblazer and author of Take Up Space Y’all opened up to People exclusively, detailing the 10-minute-long ordeal that left her “frozen” and speechless.
The shocking moment allegedly happened on a United flight departing from Tampa. Holliday accidentally hit the flight attendant call button with her hip in the bathroom. When she emerged, the attendant, instead of asking if she needed service, reportedly launched into an unbelievable rant about her body and health.
Tess recounted to the outlet, “When I came out of the bathroom, the flight attendant then started to tell me that they noticed I was traveling with my child, and that losing weight would be in my best interest.”
But wait, it gets worse.
Holliday says the attendant doubled down on the inappropriate commentary by comparing her to his own sister, who he described to her as “very, very large, probably your size.” He then told Holliday that his sister also “needed to lose weight” and that “the long-term effect on our bodies isn’t good for our health.”
The model was flying with her 9-year-old son, Bowie, which she says is part of why she did not push back. “This went on for about 10 minutes, and I think I was just frozen,” she confessed. “I didn’t want to make a scene because my son was flying with me, but I was also in a state of shock.”
While United Airlines eventually “apologized for the situation,” Holliday didn’t want the flight attendant to lose their job. Instead, the outspoken advocate, who frequently works with the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, wants the airline to make a bigger change.
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“I told them that I didn’t want the flight attendant fired, and that perhaps they could do some sensitivity training,” she told People. She even referred the company to NAFA, hoping this shocking incident can lead to education and an end to fat-shaming in the skies.
Ironically, Holliday was flying home from a speaking engagement, where she says she spoke to 500 middle school and high school students about her recent book.
“One of the topics we discussed was how to deal with people who might be bullying you about your size,” she shared with the outlet.
According to People, a representative for United Airlines had no comment on the matter.
Holliday eventually took to her official TikTok to talk about the ordeal.
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