Mindy Kaling sparks debate about privilege after ‘angrily’ tweeting about recent flight: ‘Life isn’t fair’

‘This is every single flight if you’re not rich. It’s literally what flying is’

Mindy Kaling sparks backlash with tweet about negative flying experience (Getty Images)

Mindy Kaling has sparked a debate about “entitlement” and privilege after tweeting “angrily” about her recent negative experience flying.

On Wednesday, the 42-year-old comedian shared her frustrations with an unnamed airline in a message posted to Twitter, in which she criticised the delays before take-off and after landing, the inability to recline her seat, and both the malfunctioning wifi and TV.

“I like to think I’m too classy to tweet angrily at the airline that delayed my flight for hours, then my seat didn’t recline, the TV didn’t work, the wifi didn’t work, and then we had to wait more when we landed, and I am, but I will subtweet the sh*t out of them,” she wrote.

The tweet has since been liked more than 35,000 times, with some fans commiserating with Kaling, while others have criticised The Office star for complaining about “minor inconveniences”.

“Celebrities and rich people should not be allowed to publicly complain about minor inconveniences and I’ll say it! Idc!” one person tweeted.

Another person retweeted Kaling’s tweet and questioned whether they were “supposed to feel bad for the rich lady”.

“Man, being exceptionally wealthy seems like a nightmare. Just, like, really, really hard,” someone else wrote, while another person added: “Wow Mindy, real life hits differently for some hey?”

According to one person, Kaling’s experience summed up “every single flight if you’re not rich”. “It’s literally what flying is,” they added.

“I don’t know how she made it through,” someone else wrote.

Kaling’s tweet also sparked a debate about reclining seats on planes, with some adamant that passengers should never recline their seats out of respect for those behind them on the aircraft.

“You recline your seat? Monster. Seat-recliners are the worst,” one person claimed, while another person said: “The only thing I care about in this is that she’s a seat-recliner. Don’t be that a**hole. Aeroplanes are already cramped enough.”

Someone else shared their belief that “the only seats that should recline are first and business [class]. The rest of the seats provide you with a slight increase in comfort for a great decrease in another person’s comfort”.

Following the criticism, many fans came to Kaling’s defence, with some calling the backlash over her tweet “ridiculous,” while others noted that, if anything, the actor’s tweet should be considered relatable by many.

“Phew, the responses to this tweet are ridiculous. Apparently no one (esp someone famous) is allowed to complain about anything ever. [They] must only ever be super grateful (but not brag) or talking about the latest humanitarian crisis (w other conditions I’ll bet),” one fan wrote.

Another said: “Surprised by all the negative posts in response. She didn’t tweet about being elitist or having a first class seat. She tweeted about a problem we all face all too frequently and was classy enough to leave out the airline.”

Someone else simply expressed their affection for Kaling, writing: “I love this woman.”

On Wednesday, Kaling also responded to one since-deleted tweet that appeared to have been critical of her complaint, to defend herself. In her reply, she acknowledged that she didn’t name the airline and asked whether she was “supposed to be a saint”.

“Bro I didn’t even say what airline, am I supposed to be friggin saint,” she wrote.