Odell Beckham Jr. Opens Up on Incident in Which He Was Kicked Off Flight

OBJ gives his side of the plane incident for the first time.

NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. sits courtside during the second half of the NBA game between the New York Knicks and the Phoenix Suns at Madison Square Garden. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Nearly three years ago, receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was removed from a flight from Miami to Los Angeles after he appeared to slip in and out of consciousness. The Miami-Dade Police Department released a statement following the incident that said the flight crew was worried Beckham was ill and could feel worse over the flight.

Beckham was asked to leave the flight, but refused until officers arrived and exchanged heated words with several other passengers. The entire plane was forced to deplane, and the flight was delayed.

Beckham opened up in detail about the incident during an interview with Haute Living, saying that he initially fell asleep after boarding the plane because his flight was delayed, but then was woken up to multiple officers surrounding him and telling him to get off the plane.

“I bought a first-class seat on a specific flight to get home and see my son,” Beckham said. “I was one of the first people to board. The flight gets delayed for an hour while we’re sitting there, so I just go to sleep, like anybody else would do, and then I’m woken up — an hour and 20 minutes later — thinking I’m waking up to us landing in California, to nine officers surrounding me.”

“They said, ‘Basically, you have to get off this flight.' I was just trying to ask the question as to why I was being removed from a flight where I did absolutely nothing but fall asleep, nothing wrong. They said I was unconscious, refusing to put my seatbelt on," he continued. "Which makes no sense. If I was unconscious, how would I refuse anything?”

Bodcam footage shows the moments before Odell Beckham Jr was kicked off the airplane in Miami

Odell got angry with passengers after they kept looking at him & telling him to get off the flight pic.twitter.com/U9xNdWmJCL

— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) January 11, 2023

Beckham expresses regret for letting his emotions get the best of him, but he explained he got mad because of several comments from other passengers toward, including one comment he said was racial.

“That’s where you see me talking shit to this guy,” he said. “But people don’t know that part. They just see me yelling. They think I’m trying to be seen. But at the time, I was like, ‘f**k, my day is literally about to be ruined. I’m not going to get to see my son. There are no more flights to get me back home to see him. But then, I’m the headline. Odell Beckham Jr. causes a scene. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I let my emotions get the best of me," Beckham said. "I was definitely hot.”

---

More NFL on Sports Illustrated

feed