“Wicked” star Marissa Bode is calling out Southern Airways after she was allegedly barred from boarding a commercial flight due to her wheelchair.
Bode said she was traveling to a “very small town in Pennsylvania” for a speaking engagement when the incident occurred. For the first part of her journey, she used United Airlines, but things took a turn when she tried to board her connecting flight with Southern Airways.
When the 28-year-old actress arrived at her gate, she said the agents there looked her over, and then asked if she was able to stand.
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“I said, ‘No.’ And they said, ‘I’m sorry, but because of that, we’re going to have to deny you boarding,’” Bode recalled in a video shared on TikTok. “They proceeded to tell me (that) all the planes within this airline have stairs to get on the plane.”
Bode said she was also told that the weight of her wheelchair was too much for the small aircraft to accommodate. She further noted that her manager spoke to the airline about accommodations beforehand and they “fully assured” that she would be OK to fly.
“Disabled people are not an afterthought,” she said. “Knowing that disabled people exist, which y’all clearly often forget, do you choose not to update your planes?”
“This is our entire existence you’re talking about. My wheelchair is my freedom,” Bode continued. “And of course when I’m crying out of frustration and talking to the people at the gate very firmly, I look like a crazy person. I look like the one that’s in the wrong.”
In a statement to People, Southern Airways called Bode’s experience upsetting, adding it “does not reflect the standard to which we hold ourselves.” The airline also vowed to investigate the matter.
Bode starred in both “Wicked” movies as Nessarose Thropp, sister to Elphaba, who was played by Cynthia Erivo.
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