Sandra “Pepa” Denton was left grounded in Vegas this AM after a Southwest Airlines crew deemed her a safety risk on their flight!
The Salt-N-Pepa rap legend tells TMZ Hip Hop she was on a flight from Las Vegas to Nashville for a meeting — a flight she takes frequently because it’s the only direct one.
Instagram / @darealpepa
Due to a previous knee injury from a 2018 car crash, she paid for 2 seats and used the services of a greeter for wheelchair assistance.
Once seated on the plane, Pepa says a flight attendant informed her she wasn’t allowed to have both seats because she wasn’t in a cast.
She was wearing a knee brace, though, because of the knee injury.
After some back and forth, the FA allowed Pepa to keep the two seats she had paid for, as her knee brace was in her possession.
Shortly after, a man arrived and asked Pepa to give him her 2nd seat, claiming he was headed to a funeral.
While explaining to the passenger the extra seat was because of her injury, other passengers began arguing if she should give up the seat or keep it because she paid for it.
Pepa tells us she asked the man if he would swear he was truly going to a funeral, and he refused. Somehow, he still got the seat.
She called her assistant on the phone and suggested she should be recording the whole ordeal but after a few minutes, she was removed from the flight with no reason given.
After she got off the plane, Pepa says Southwest told her she was removed because she was recording and they didn’t feel safe flying with her — although, for the record, Pepa says she never actually recorded on the plane.
Now, she was able to reschedule her meeting in Nashville, and Southwest reimbursed her the $2500 for her 2 seats. The bad news is she’s SOL for the $300 she paid for the greeter and $500 for the car service she never got to use.
Southwest tells TMZ Hip Hop that initial reports from their teams indicate Pepa did not respond to crew member instructions, and denied her boarding to ensure the safety and comfort of other passengers.
Pepa tells us she’ll certainly be exploring her legal options regarding any potential ADA violations toward flyers with disabilities.
According to her, Southwest agents attempted to move her into the bulkhead emergency row, which she declined. Remember, her boarding passes were marked “disabled” … so, if there were an emergency, she couldn’t assist!!!