If you’re a fan of Comedy Central’s excellent Broad City, then you’re a winner in our book, as well a member of a still-too-small TV viewership. (Though it’s one that includes Patton Oswalt, so there’s good company at least.) But one particular fan made things difficult for himself earlier this week by getting onto an airplane wearing a show-sponsored T-shirt that said “Broad Fucking City,” which got him booted off the plane once he refused to do anything to cover it. That move was far more Ilana than Abbi.
The incident took place on Monday as Daniel Podolsky was traveling from Dallas to Chicago via Southwest Airlines, having attended this year’s SXSW festival, which is where Comedy Central handed out hundreds of the aforementioned T-shirts, which look like this.
Everything was okay initially, but the plane had to stop in St. Louis due to bad weather in Chicago, and it was after a quick bathroom break that Podolsky’s shirt caught the eye of Southwest personnel, and he was asked to remove it or cover it up. And that’s where things get interesting. Following this interaction that left him off the plane and stranded, Podolsky contacted St. Louis’ Fox 2 to complain, and here’s how he responded when asked if he was given the opportunity to alter his appearance to hide the vulgarity on the shirt.
It just happened so fast. Within thirty seconds the flight was gone. I mean I would have gladly done so.
However, Podolsky captured the incident on camera and initially shared it with the world through Fox 2 and Facebook, and it showed a very different scenario that proved he was lying. The video has since been removed from his Facebook account, but you bet your ass it was transcribed before that could happen.
In the confrontation, Podolsky was asked if he could change the shirt, to which he replied, “No.” He was asked if he could put his jacket on and leave it on throughout the flight, and though his response is inaudible, Podolsky had already told Fox 2 that the flight was cramped and stuffy and he didn’t want to wear the jacket. He was then asked if he could put it on inside-out, which he also said “No” to. When told he wouldn’t be able to get on without doing something, he claimed he had freedom of speech and that it wasn’t bothering anyone, asking to take a poll. We’re assuming he didn’t have many people to poll near the airport gate, where he had to stay as the flight took off without him.
He did eventually change his shirt and was allowed to board a later flight that took him straight to his final destination in New York. If Broad City’s Season 3 is timed with a hat that says “Broad BitchShitAss City,” we bet Podolsky won’t be trying to get on a plane with it.
