Southwest flight ejects student over profane T-shirt

ST. LOUIS, March 24 (UPI) -- A New York student was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight in St. Louis after refusing to change a profane T-shirt promoting Comedy Central show Broad City.

Daniel Podolsky was on a Dallas to Chicago flight Monday when the plane made an unscheduled landing at Lambert Airport in St. Louis due to the weather in Chicago.

Podolsky, who had been wearing a jacket prior to boarding the flight in Dallas, shed his outer layer before getting off the plane to use the restroom at Lambert Airport.

The student said a Southwest employee took issue with his T-shirt, which read "Broad F***ing City," with the profanity in the middle fully spelled out. The T-shirt, promoting Comedy Central series Broad City, was a freebie from the South By Southwest festival, Podolsky said.

Podolsky said he was kicked off the flight without being given an opportunity to change, but a video he provided of the encounter shows the Southwest worker asking him to change the shirt, turn it inside out or cover it with his jacket.

The video shows the student reject the requests, citing his "freedom of speech."

Podolsky said he does not think his shirt should have been an issue.

"There are more than a hundred people on the plane trying to get to Chicago and the most important thing is my shirt?  How does that work?  Where's the sense of priority?" he told KTVI-TV.

Southwest Airlines stood by the employee's actions in a statement.

"We rely on our employees and customers to use common sense and good judgment," spokesman Dan Landson said.

Podolsky was allowed to board a later Southwest flight to New York after changing his T-shirt.