This week, the infamous story of a plus-size model who controversially confronted a fellow passenger accused of sending derogatory messages about her during a flight has resurfaced…
Sadly, plus-size status and air travel rarely seem to mix very well. In recent weeks, the call from a plus-size passenger for the taxpayer to shell out for her extra seat was greeted with backlash while the news that a British Airways first-class customer got stuck in their seat for hours before being hoisted out was met with derision.
Now, a similar story from a few years ago has resurfaced after a viral ‘supercut ‘of the incident spread across social media: Natalie Hage, a plus-size model who was en route to Los Angeles for a photo shoot, was confronted by the behaviour of a fellow passenger who treated her with open disdain before she captured his fat-shaming texts and shared them with her 100,000 followers…
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The incident unfolded when Ms. Hage — who describes herself as “extremely flight anxious” — went to settle into her midde-of-the-row middle seat. As she sat down, she instantly noticed that the gentleman seated beside her began huffing, sighing, and adjusting himself in his seat, as reported by the BBC.
Shortly afterwards, she noticed the man texting an unidentified acquaintance. After complaining that he was leaving a “neck mark on the window” due to his cramped situation, the recipient of the texts remarked that “hopefully [Ms. Hage] didn’t have any Mexican food,” to which the man replied:
“I think she ate a Mexican.”
Anonymous Passenger
Unfortunately for the man, Ms. Hage managed to snap a picture of his texts, which she promptly shared with over 100,000 followers (Note: Her following has more than doubled in the years since). Not only did this image garner thousands of likes, but so did her follow-up video describing the incident.
WATCH: EasyJet recently experienced a very different kind of weight problem…
Both pieces of content prompted an outpouring of support for her, and the man later expressed remorse, attributing his actions to pre-flight alcohol consumption. Ms. Hage expressed upset that such treatment is a daily reality for many larger people when travelling but also in the world beyond the plane doors.
While the model’s courage and resilience garnered praise from many online, who praised her bravery in standing up against fat-shaming, many others were quick to defend the male passenger, suggesting that not only should Ms. Hage be more considerate of her size but — perhaps more interestingly — that while his treatment of her may have been problematic, she had no right to seek out or share his private messages.
This was a contentious issue back in 2017 and it continues to be one now. Mobile devices have completely changed the way we interact with one another in public spaces and our ability to share those experiences with massive audiences in the blink of an eye. The problem here isn’t Ms. Hage’s size, it’s the paradigm shift in the way tech allows us to interact and, all too often, collide.