STRANDED

‘Wicked’ Star Slams Airline for Refusing to Board Her Due to Disability

The actress said Southern Airways did not allow her to board because of her wheelchair.

Marissa Bode, 25, is blasting Southern Airways over what she called “blatant segregation” after being denied boarding. The Wicked actress took to TikTok on Thursday to detail the “awful experience,” saying she was blocked from a connecting flight to Pennsylvania because she’s in a wheelchair. Bode said she initially approached the gate agents for help locating her ticket, but they instead looked at her and asked if she could stand. When she told them no, she claims they responded: “I’m sorry, because of that, we’re gonna have to deny you boarding.” The actress said her team had already coordinated accommodations in advance, but staff told her that all Southern Airways aircrafts require stairs for boarding and raised concerns about her 35-pound wheelchair. For Bode, the ordeal wasn’t an isolated incident. “It is very rare that I’m flying and there isn’t a problem with my chair or I’m not talked down to,” she said. Stranded, she said she was forced to scrap the flight and drive roughly three and a half hours to make it to her speaking engagement in Pennsylvania.