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Comedian Guy Branum claimed that he was left with bruises after an alleged altercation with a fellow passenger during a recent flight on Delta Air Lines.
On Sept. 14, the 49-year-old actor shared a video on Instagram in which he said he was sitting in the middle seat when a man sat down next to him and complained about not having enough space. Branum alleged that the man then elbowed him and told him that he was “too fat” to fly.
“I had an exciting adventure on my plane flight today,” the “No Strings Attached” actor began his video, which he labeled “Flying While Fat.”
Comedian Guy Branum claimed that a fellow passenger elbowed him and called him “too fat” to fly on a recent Delta flight. ( Jason Mendez/WireImage)
“Normally when I [have] more money, I’ll fly business class because I’m a big guy and I don’t want to be in anybody else’s space,” he continued. “And this time, I got a Comfort Plus ticket.” According to Delta’s website, Comfort+ seats are the same width as standard economy but provide more legroom.
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Branum said he often worried about flying since he has had “people freak out at me before.”
“And today, it was a middle seat, not great,” he said. “A guy came down, a White man in his sixties.”
“And first, he freaked out at a woman because she was putting something in the overhead compartment near his seat,” Branum continued. “Then he sat down next to me and he immediately was just p—– off at me and asked me if I could move over. And I was like, ‘No, I can’t.’ Then he just elbowed me as hard as he could.”
In the video, Branum displayed an image of bruises on his side that he allegedly sustained after the incident.
“And then I took this video…” he said as the clip cut to another video in which he was seen seated on the plane next to the man.
“Elbowed me because he believes that I’m too fat to be sitting next to him,” Branum claimed to the camera as the man remarked, “Well, who wouldn’t believe that?”
“Would you be happy if I elbowed you back?” Branum asked the man.
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“Well, there’s not a lot of room here for me,” the man replied, adding, “I paid for this seat too.”
The actor said he was left with bruises after the incident. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
“I paid for this seat as well,” Branum pointed out.
“Think you’d want to at least share the armrest?” the man asked, to which Branum responded. “Yes, we’re not sharing the armrest right now. Right now, you are using the armrest because you elbowed me to get out.”
“I’m not even on the armrest,” the man said before Branum told him, “I’m not on the armrest either.”
The two continued to argue as the man appeared to imply that Branum should lose weight. After Branum told the man, “You are hardly svelte yourself,” the man said that he was a member of WeightWatchers.”
“And that is how I lost the weight,” the man told him.
Branum then asked the man if he expected him to lose weight in the “next 20 minutes or so.”
“No, have you ever…” the man said as Branum interjected. “Do you think I have ever tried to lose weight, Sir?”
“I don’t know,” the man said.
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“Do you really think that I’m a fat person in this country and I’ve never tried to lose weight?” Branum asked.
“I don’t know,” the man repeated.
“OK,” Branum said.
Braham said that the man eventually switched seats with another woman. ( Rick Kern/Getty Images)
The video cut to Branum as he addressed the camera, explaining that he told a flight attendant that the man had “hit” him but “I was OK to stay in the seat if necessary.”
Branum claimed that the man complained to the airline staff that he was “too fat.”
The comedian said multiple Delta staffers came to observe “if I was too fat,” including a senior crew member who told the man that Branum would not be removed. Eventually, the man switched seats with a woman across the aisle, and Delta offered her frequent flyer miles for the inconvenience. Branum said he also requested miles.
Branum noted that the woman who eventually sat next to him was “so nice.” However, he went on to say that “fat people shouldn’t be waiting for some future moment when we’ll be worthy of traveling and living our lives.”
The Emmy Award winner alleged a staff member asked him to delete his video, but he refused. He said other passengers then backed him up, telling staff the man had been difficult with others on the flight.
He said the woman who eventually sat beside him was “so nice,” but added that “fat people shouldn’t be waiting for some future moment when we’ll be worthy of traveling and living our lives.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Delta Air Lines for comment.
Branum told TMZ that he would be filing a police report and a civil lawsuit against the man. (Weiss Eubanks/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
In an interview with TMZ on Saturday, Branum said he plans to file a police report and a civil lawsuit against the man. “You can’t hit somebody because you think they’re fat,” he told the outlet.
Branum also alleged that the man was not removed from the flight because of his status as a frequent flyer. He told TMZ he has been in contact with Delta representatives about the issue.
Fox News Digital has also reached out to representatives for Branum for comment.
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