'Recline to one another': Ellen DeGeneres defends reclining passenger in punching drama
A passenger on an American Airlines regional flight was trying to get the attention of Bravo's Andy Cohen when she posted a video of the passenger behind her repeatedly punching her seat after she reclined it during a flight in late January.
Instead, she became the subject of Ellen DeGeneres' opening monologue on Wednesday.
The talk-show host explained: "The man couldn't recline his own seat because he was in the very last row by the bathrooms – which, in my opinion, should be free but for some reason they cost the same as all the other seats. So he asked the woman to put her seat up while he ate because he had very little room which there is on the planes like that. So she put her seat up but then when he finished eating, she reclined it then he started a boxing match with her a seat."
At first, DeGeneres sounded as though she might support the puncher, cracking, "Brookstone charges $600 for a seat like that."
But she came out firmly on the side of the punchee, whose name is Wendi Williams.
"I can't believe anybody is taking the man's side," she said, "because to me, the only only time it's ever okay to punch someone's seat is if the seat punches you first. Then I think you can punch the seat back."
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She also said the passenger seated behind Williams should have known what he was doing wasn't cool as soon as she began filming him.
Having someone pull out their phone and record you for evidence, DeGeneres noted, is the first clue "that you're going to be a YouTube star and not the kind where you make $1 million for opening toys."
Furthermore, she said, "Airlines seats are made to recline. She has a right to recline her chair. And I get it: there's not a lot of legroom (and) you're frustrated, you're hot because of the beard. But you're also an adult and you have to act like an adult on a plane. Don't pick on her like a third grader punching the back of a seat. I can't believe anybody would think that's okay."
DeGeneres, who regularly implores fans to be kind to other people, added, "We need to learn more compassion. We need to think about what somebody else might be feeling, what she may be going through in her life. Maybe he's going through something but he didn't have to punch her seat anyway."
The bottom line?
"If you're ever unsure on how to behave on a plane," DeGeneres advised, "just remember what I say at the end of every one of my shows: recline to one another."
Do you have the right to recline your airline airplane seat? No, and here's why
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ellen DeGeneres takes a side in debate over reclining airline seats
