United Airlines Passenger Refuses Middle Seat Swap — Then Gets Kicked Off Over New York Souvenir T-Shirt

A United Airlines passenger says about five employees, including a manager, were waiting when she was asked to step off an aircraft to discuss a souvenir T-shirt. The shirt read, in three lines, “NEW YORK / F***IN / CITY.” She says that only happened after she declined a request to move across the aisle into a middle seat. Her husband shared her account of the incident: Me and my wife was humiliated by @united over a souvenir shirt that we bought when leaving New York. We are not here to attack United Airlines, but we would like a real explanation and bring awareness for anyone else that this has happened to. pic.twitter.com/agrObsf0RH — Denzel Joyce (@Young_Zel) August 8, 2026 The woman says this took place August 4. She checked in, passed through TSA, went to the gate and boarded without anyone objecting to the shirt. Once she was seated, she was asked to move across the aisle into a middle seat. She declined. After that, she was asked to step off the aircraft. She says approximately five United employees approached her and told her to remove or cover the shirt or get removed from the aircraft. United’s Contract of Carriage says they have the authority to remove: “Passengers who are barefoot, not properly clothed, or whose clothing is lewd, obscene or offensive.” Last month, United made a Palestinian-American passenger change a shirt that read “Bombing kids is not self defense.” That shirt wasn’t lewd or obscene, so they’d have to rely on a subjective claim of “offensive.” This guy flew United without any shirt at all and nobody said anything. Here the shirt contains profanity. And TSA didn’t deem it ok because they screened her for weapons, explosives and other threats like four inch scissors. There’s no First Amendment right to choice of attire onboard a United Airlines flight. It seems like a suggestion to turn the shirt inside out in the lavatory might be better. And it appears the shirt was largely noticed during the interaction where she refused to give up her seat for a middle seat. That’s awkward because it comes off like punishment for that refusal. I guess the shirt falls under a United rule, but it’s certainly no worse than what a large number of pssengers travel with every day. Last year a Spirit Airlines passenger was booted off over an ‘F-hate’ hoodie and the word was spelled with a v instead of a u. And in 2020 – this was George Floyd summer – an American Airlines passenger got kicked off for an ‘F-12’ mask. Meanwhile, American Airlines kicked off a woman recovering from cancer for her ‘F-cancer’ hoodie. The airline, though, said the employee was wrong to do it and that context matters. So even employees don’t know when F-bombs are allowed on clothing and when they aren’t. Topics on this page