Stars have taken to social media to express their disbelief after it emerged that US airline United Airlines refused to let two teenage girls board a flight because they were wearing leggings, and only let three other girls board the flight after they changed their attire. Activist Shannon Watts first tweeted about the incident, writing: "A United gate agent isn't letting girls in leggings get on flight from Denver to Minneapolis because spandex is not allowed? She's forcing them to change or put dresses on over leggings or they can't board."
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Accusing the airline of sexism, William Shatner wrote: "I'm going to start wearing leggings! Is that against the rules? #outdatedfashion #outdatedrules," while Wreck It Ralph voice actress Sarah Silverman wrote: "Hey @united I fly a LOT. About to go on tour all April and changing all my @united flights to other airlines." Chrissy Teigen spoke about her own experiences on the airline, tweeting: "I have flown united before with literally no pants on. Just a top as a dress. Next time I will wear only jeans and a scarf… If I have an issue with a company, I stop giving them money."
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The airline released a statement about the incident
The airline responded to the controversy by explaining that the teenage girls were travelling with 'United passes', which means that they must adhere to a dress code. The company tweeted: "The passengers this morning were United pass riders who were not in compliance with our dress code policy for company benefit travel." Actor Seth Rogen reacted sarcastically to their explanation, tweeting: "We here at @united are just trying to police the attire of the daughters of our employees! That's all! Cool, right?" He then added: "They are only trying to treat the teenage daughters of their employees [badly]. Not everyone else."