Alaska Airlines Flight Attendant Crop Top Controversy Hits TikTok

Ray Lin Howard is a plus-sized rapper and stylist who said an Alaska Airlines flight attendant kicked her off an airplane because she was wearing a crop top.

The claim was made in a TikTok video by Howard, 33, from Fairbanks, Alaska. She posts under the handle @fattrophywife. In September 2021, she posted a video on the matter that she captioned, “@alaskaair Flight attendant harassed and called the airport police on me for my inappropriate outfit. #bbw #plussize #plussizeedition #bbws #fyp.”

According to TMZ, the incident took place on Friday, September 3, 2021.

In one video posted on September 4, Howard says, “This is what I was wearing when I was told my outfit was inappropriate.” She then pans down to show she’s wearing a leopard print crop top that shows a bit of her stomach.

In a second video, she tells an officer who is questioning her that she had the shirt off at first. “So what happened on the, on the flight,” the officer asks. Slightly off camera, she shows him what she was wearing, which he refers to as a sports bra. She says she put the crop top back on when asked to do so, but she was kicked off the plane anyway.

@fattrophywife@alaskaair called the police on me for wearing this outfit ##bbw ##plussize ##plussizeedition ##flying ##airline ##alaskaairlines ##bbws ##thicktok♬ original sound – Trophy

“I felt like I was being discriminated against for being a fat, tattooed, mixed-race woman, which in turn left me full of emotions like anger, disappointment, helplessness, humiliation and confusion,” she told Jam Press, according to TMZ.

Here’s what you need to know:

Howard Told an Officer, ‘I Was Harassed About My Outfit’

@fattrophywife@alaskaair Flight attendant harassed and called the airport police on me for my inappropriate outfit. ##bbw ##plussize ##plussizeedition ##bbws ##fyp

♬ original sound – Trophy

The TikTok video of the police interview contains the statement, “I was escorted off the plane by police tonight. How’s your night going.” Howard is sitting in a room with a police officer.

“So what happened on the flight?” he asks.

“I was harassed about my outfit. I put my shirt back on,” she says.

“You did have it off?” the officer asks.

She says yes, and he makes a comment about a “sports bra” when she shows him just outside the camera’s view what she had been wearing.

“Then they approached me again saying I can’t wear this, my stomach is showing, and it is inappropriate, and I said, ‘I’m covered up, I’m fine,’ and she just kept going,” Howard continues. “I said if you’re going to kick me off, kick me off. I’ve done what you asked me to do. That was the third time they approached me. Because of this outfit. That’s why you were called. I said, ‘I want you to leave me alone.’ That was the third time they approached me.”

The officer tells Howard that she is “not in any criminal trouble – there’s nothing like that. We’re just trying to get your side of the story. They have policies for dress code. I hear what you’re saying. They have their policies that they have to follow.”

Howard insists, “I did follow the policy, though. I looked it up. I’m within the dress code.”

The officer says a supervisor will talk to Howard, who says, “I’m being harassed and now I’m being detained.”

The officer responds that she is not being detained and says, “We’re just trying to investigate and see what crimes did occur” but insists he doesn’t think any did.

“You guys came and pulled me off the plane,” Howard says.

The officer says that “was at the request of the airline.”

“I wore an outfit. That’s what happened. Can I please go? I have a show. I’m supposed to perform,” she says.

The Airline Says It Is ‘Our Goal to Provide Caring Service to All of Our Guests’

On TikTok, Howard calls herself, “Rapper, stylist, entrepreneur.” She links to a rap video she recorded on YouTube.

According to TMZ, Alaska Airlines said in a statement that the airline had reached out to Howard and was “committed to finding out what happened and taking the appropriate actions.” Alaska Air told TMZ: “It’s our goal to provide caring service to all of our guests. When we don’t live up to that goal, we do everything we can to make it right.”

Howard said in another video that the airline gave her discounts and apologized after the incident went viral. Howard shared a comment by another passenger who wrote, “I was on your flight and the only voice I heard raised at all was the [flight] attendant. This was f’d up. I am glad they let you go and you made your performance. I sent in a complaint to the airline about your being escorted off too.”

In a September 7 update, TMZ reported that Howard said Alaska Airlines “refunded her 3 tickets and offered her a discount code for future purchases,” though “she’ll never use the code because she won’t fly AA again.”

READ NEXT: Woman Struts Through Airport Wearing a Bikini & a Mask