Comedian Jimmy Kimmel leads celebrity backlash against United Airlines after passenger is dragged off plane

Jimmy Kimmel launched a stinging attack against the airline on American television
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Jonathan Mitchell12 April 2017

American comedy show host Jimmy Kimmel launched a withering attack on United Airlines after footage emerged of security staff violently removing a passenger from an overbooked flight.

The comedian used his monologue during the Jimmy Kimmel Live show on Monday night to blast the airline, telling the audience “that’s how my mother used to get me out of bed to go to school every morning”.

Mr Kimmel also showed a parody commercial from the United Airlines, during which an air stewardess says “give us a problem and we’ll drag your a** off the plane”.

The public backlash comes after video footage of a passenger being dragged across a cabin floor and forcibly removed from a flight from Chicago to Louisville went viral on Sunday.

The video, which the airline said took place because the flight was overbooked and the passenger refused to leave his seat, caused an outcry on social media.

Mr Kimmel said: “When you break this down, a man was forcibly dragged off a flight because they oversold it, which how that happens in the first place, I don’t know.

“Who cares? It’s not the passenger’s fault that you sold too many tickets on your plane.”

Kimmel has been joined by a host of other celebrities in his criticism of the airline, which has also been blasted after its owner blamed the passenger for being “disruptive and belligerent”.

Popular comic voice actor Harry Shearer, known for his characters in the Simpsons, mockingly posted the airline’s slogan of “fly friendlier skies” on Twitter.

Ava DuVernay, director of the Oscar winning drama Selma, posted: “This could be me or you next time. Shame on @United who broke customer trust + instigated this. Shame on the airport cops. Cowardly assault.”

Meanwhile Avengers director Joss Whedon mockingly posted about his excitement about boarding a United Airlines flight this morning, saying he hopes to “stay on”.

The incident has also become the subject of a torrent of internet parodies, with mock adverts appearing across social media this morning.

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