'09
Earlier today Celebitchy sent a message to British Airways regarding their employee who would not let Joel Madden board a flight until he covered his tattooed arms.
She sent the following message to British Airways Public Relations via e-mail and are waiting for a response:
Dear British Airways public relations,
On a Saturday flight from Heathrow to Lisboa, Portugal, rocker Joel Madden was told by a British Airways staff member to cover up his arm tattoos before boarding. Madden has tattoos of religious figures on both of his forearms. He quietly complied with the request although he told the BA person that he felt he was being discriminated against. Madden immediately posted this on his Twitter, which has nearly 100,000 followers.Does British Airways have a policy of making all airline passengers cover visible tattoos or was this an isolated incident? Will the staff member who did this be disciplined if it was not in accordance with airline policy?
[Sent via e-mail to BA Public Relations]
In the article, Celebitchy proposed that it was likely just the one British Airways employee who had an attitude problem instead of an actual policy by the airline. Not surprisingly, she was correct. We just got a response from BA.
Katie,
British Airways does not have a policy against tattoos.
We are speaking to the staff member involved.
[Sent via e-mail by BA Public Relations]
Joel noted in his Twitter account of the incident that there is nothing offensive about his tattoos (presumably meaning there’s no nudity, violence, curse words – they appear to be religious in nature), so it’s hard to guess what this employee’s problem was. It must have been with tattoos in general. Joel also noted that another employee was disagreeing with the first – though obviously the insistent, anti-tattoo guy won. I can’t help but wonder how the guy thought he’d get away with that. Unfortunately British Airways didn’t say what’s going to happen to the employee, but I hope it’s more than just a simple reprimand. The guy was out of line and had no right to enforce his personal preferences as though they were rules.
Here’s Joel leaving Ron Herman at Fred Segal in Los Angeles on January 7th. Image thanks to WENN.com .
Written by JayBird
Posted in Joel Madden, Tattoos
- 30 most popular movie kisses (video) [Popsugar]
- The ladies of Downton Abbey at the BAFTAs [Go Fug Yourself]
- If Community comes back... (spoiler!) [Fark]
- The cast of Game of Thrones in RL [Pajiba]
- Bonnie Wright’s bad dress [Lainey Gossip]
- Pete Doherty has a second illegitimate kid [D-Listed]
- Courtney Stodden was a tramp for V Day [Evil Beet]
- Katherine Heigl is a granny in stripper heels [Celebslam]
- Confessions of a couples therapist [Gawker]
- Martha Stewart’s dog won Best of Breed at Westminster [The Daily Wh.at]
30 Responses to “Exclusive: response from British Airways on Joel Madden tattoo incident”
Leave a Reply
By commenting you agree to our comment policy
Use the "Report this comment as spam or abuse" link to ask the moderators to delete a comment if it's offensive. If your comment disappears, it may have been eaten by the spam filter. Please e-mail cbcomments at gmail.com to get it retrieved.
Get an icon next to your name by signing up for a free Gravatar
really?
you decide to bitch about this?
m’kay
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I am not a tatt fan at all however, BA tatics were wrong and the gentleman responsible for telling Madden to cover up,should be fired!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Oh geez. I hate people who have these preconceived notions about guys with tattoos.
My mom’s one of those. Can’t stand them, thinks that any man with a tattoo is a hooligan who intends on burning up a place.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
JB: Thanks for posting that email address–I, as a discreetly tattooed woman, just sent them an email stating my displeasure with that employee’s actions and conveying my hope that said employee no longer IS an employee, and that they are lucky Joel acquiesced quietly–I would not have.
It’s sad, isn’t it Annie? The absolute close-mindedness of some people. My mother is one of the tattoo-hating population–and she thinks I’m disgusting for getting a couple (I got one on my shoulder blade, 1 on each ankle, and one on my right hand) and all can be covered up–pretty much ARE covered most of the time, and still I have to hear it.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I think that they had him cover them up because they are religious and therefore “offensive”. The thing is, now that I’m a Christian I’m not offended by non-Christian religious tattoos. When I was an atheist (and then a Wiccan) I wasn’t either. Because I always try to be tolerant. I would love to see more tolerant people in this world *grin*
Report this comment as spam or abuse
the employee should be fired. a$$hole
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Tattoos were more interesting before every college brat with loose cash at hand could walk into a shop and get one. They used to mean something back when only hoods and bikers had them. It used to stand for strength and attitude and an attachment to raw primitive energy of ancient warrior cultures. Now some uni-browed, rich momma’s boy is going to try and prove to me he’s a bad motherf’er because he has a painting of some flames and a skull on his skin.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Just thinking of my uncle and great-uncle (who died when he was 92) and their tattoos. Pretty sure that Irish builders aren’t an ancient warrior culture in themselves
(I’m only messing with you Hieronymus)
But I’m generally in agreement with JayBird’s stance. The airlines are getting increasingly picky about the physical appearance of their passengers at a time when they should think themselves damned lucky to have any passengers at all.
This so-called “Fat Tax” that United Airlines and RyanAir are coming up with comes to mind as another example. Unless the cash generated is going towards providing bigger seats for all or will avoid the need for larger people to buy two seats, it will not improve the comfort levels of either skinny, average or larger people on full flights one iota and is simply a way for airlines to pick on someone’s physical appearance and profit off it.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Doesn’t Joel Madden feel wonderful, beacuse he is a spoiled celb who has to always get his way, he pouted on twitter and now this person who was probably just doing what they were told to do will most likely become unemployed. I am so tired of all these over privelaged, talentless celebs!!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
They used to mean something back when only hoods and bikers had them
Yea, now you’re not badass until you are the one tattooing yourself. lol
I went to a jiffy lube the other day, and this guy had tattoos everywhere and even had 6 or so stars along the side of his eye. And I was all “did that hurt?”
And he was like “Naaah, I did it myself.”
I was like “WTF? HOW?”
“With a mirror.”
“Were you drinking?”
“Probably.
”
HILARIOUS. And the tattoos were really well done. I guess that’s the new age of tattoo badassery.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Those preppy douche bags keep my friend’s tattoo shop in business. So he can tattoo all the cool stuff on me & my husband & our friends!
And his old lady just left him & his therapy is rebuilding his bike
Report this comment as spam or abuse
the employee shouldn t get sacked thats just silly. Obviously a mistake has been made, but the guy doesnt deserve to lose his job over that
Report this comment as spam or abuse
If I saw him Id probably give him shit too.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Tattoo’s are so low class. Period.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
the flight attendant absolutely deserves to get fired. if he made someone cover up henna marriage tattoos, or a bindi, or african ceremonial scarring he would be instatntly called out for being a racist bastard and discriminating.
tattoos are a significant part of european culture too, so is christian imagery. therefore i do not see this as an any less discriminatory and stupid action on the flight-attendants part.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
He was pretty cool about not making a stink out of it at the time. The pisser is that you’re somewhat at their mercy, particularly after 9/11. Frigging ridiculous that they’d do this. I used to think tattoos were low class, but come on, times have changed. They’re much more mainstream and I’m considering getting a small one myself. Trouble is I change my mind about things and don’t want to be stuck with something I don’t like or believe in 5 years from now….
Report this comment as spam or abuse
“the employee shouldn t get sacked thats just silly. Obviously a mistake has been made, but the guy doesnt deserve to lose his job over that.” – unknown
silly? right…it’s called customer service you idiot and as someone that works in the customer service industry we are told to kiss ass, kiss, ass, kiss ass when it comes to consumers. the company i work for would have fired me on the spot if i had discriminated against someone in that manner! this BA employee is lucky Joel hasn’t brought about discrimination charges yet, i would have straight away. it’s not ok to discriminate against anyone, tatt’ed up or not.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Tattoo’s are so low class. Period.
That is a mighty bold statement. Well, opinion, I should say.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
I CANNOT believe you took the time out of a day to write an email to these people just as I am writing to you…Confirmed- This world has gone to shit. Officially…
Report this comment as spam or abuse
“Tattoos are so low class. Period”
May I suggest, “I think some tattoos are low class”. That way you wouldn’t sound like some 80 year old miserable grump that thinks the whole world should conform to your personal aesthetic.
(I’ve got 20 and counting. Am I low class? Do you know me? )
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Were they made to be covered because they were religious in nature? If so, what would happen if a Muslim woman were forced to remove her headscarf?
Report this comment as spam or abuse
kh get over urself someone doesn t deserve to lose their living over that when we are in a recession u dumb asssssssssss, joel obvious doesnt care cos he could have made a complaint then and there but didn t cos his sittin pretty with millions in the bank..
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Trillion: (I’ve got 20 and counting. Am I low class? Do you know me? )
Yes and Yes?
Got more huevos than me. I can’t even get my bellybutton pierced without crying.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Pretty sure that Irish builders aren’t an ancient warrior culture in themselves
Sit ye down and let me tell you a story about a tribe called the Picts… Better yet read up on them yourself
Report this comment as spam or abuse
while i agree that it would be a matter of discrimination if joel was being targeted because of the religious nature of his tattoos or because of a personal opinion regarding tattoos in general, my thoughts on it are more about censorship and freedom of expression.
it really doesn’t matter if you think tattoos are trashy. you’re not the one who is sporting it for the rest of your life. are we not all grown up enough to just let each other be? if you don’t want to see someone covered in tattoos, ignore them.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
The airlines didnt have him cover up anything . It was a person who has just a little too much power for being a mere waitress in the air. I saw this on anoither airline where a woman had a wolf on her back and the stewardess tried to make a deal out of it and the captian put his foot down and told her to be quiet. Some people think they have a little power and they go all out. I fly a lot and see these airline people do lots of stranges things ,and of course while they are bossing people around and insulting them they sure are not doing their jobs.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Trillion – well said! Us low class tattooed folk need to stick together against idiots like this.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
to ‘unknown’; so the recession is now a get away free card to act like a total douche, discriminate and generally be a crappy service industry employee/person? i’d say you’re the dumb-ass in this case.
Report this comment as spam or abuse
Zoe & Trill~ We’ll just start our own airline!
Report this comment as spam or abuse
@Trillion: “(I’ve got 20 and counting. Am I low class? Do you know me? )”
I don’t have to know you. Multiple tattoos is pretty much a sign of a person with Issues. I should know – I’ve been involved with more than one of your ilk.
That said – the BA employee was wrong.
Report this comment as spam or abuse