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South Korea’s DJ Soda says she was kicked off American Airlines for ‘f*** you’ sweatpants deemed ‘offensive’

She is a headliner at several Asian music festivals and was on a tour when the incident happened

Maroosha Muzaffar
Monday 09 May 2022 13:13 BST
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A popular South Korean DJ was ‘kicked out’ of an American Airlines plane for wearing “offensive” sweatpants
A popular South Korean DJ was ‘kicked out’ of an American Airlines plane for wearing “offensive” sweatpants (DeejaySoda / Instagram)

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A popular South Korean DJ claimed that she was “suddenly kicked out” of a flight just before her departure to Los Angeles from New York, and forced to take off her sweatpants because they were deemed “inappropriate” and “offensive.”

DJ Soda was wearing sweatpants that had the words “F***”, “F*** YOU,” and “F****N” printed all over and were sponsored by the American brand Ripndip.

The DJ, whose real name is Hwang So-hee, wrote on her social media that she was “harassed and humiliated” on Monday after boarding an American Airlines flight from New York to Los Angeles.

“I have been on a plane without a single problem while on a US tour for several months wearing these pants, which I received as a gift from an American brand,” she wrote.

She continued: “I sat in the business seat number 1 and drank the welcome drink right before departure when suddenly a male employee came and told me to take all my luggage and leave without giving any reason... and told me to take another flight.”

She went on to chronicle that she had an “important meeting in LA” and that she “must not miss this flight” and, so “I offered to change my pants if my pants were uncomfortable, but I was rejected, and I had no choice but to take my pants off at the entrance of the plane where everyone was watching,” she wrote on her Instagram.

The 36-year-old said that “even though I had my pants off and nothing on… and they told me they couldn’t take me on this plane because they were already too uncomfortable with my pants, so I continued to take another flight.”

DJ Soda said in the caption that “after the hard work of my teammates, I was able to get back on the plane with my pants on. I took off my pants…it was really humiliating to take off my pants in front of the airplane entrance, where everyone was watching, and to ask for a ride on the plane with my pants off.”

“It’s the first time I’ve been kicked out of a plane while on tour in eight years, and it’s the first time I’ve taken my pants off in front of everyone.”

The South Korean DJ said that she “couldn’t believe this was happening in America, a country that respects freedom” and went on to say that “this should never happen to anyone again, and I will boycott American Airlines in the future.”

DJ Soda has 4.3 million followers on Instagram and 126,000 followers on Twitter.

The Independent has reached out to American Airlines for comment.

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