More details have emerged about the moment reality star Porsha Williams was escorted off a Delta Air Lines flight. On Sunday, after landing in Atlanta, officers escorted the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star off the plane following an onboard dispute with a 70-year-old woman seated next to her before takeoff.
In a recently surfaced video of officers collecting statements from both women, Williams shares her side of the story.
“So, the lady was sitting next to me, and I was on my phone,” Williams explained to officers. “And the volume was up on the phone, and she returned to me, out of nowhere, and she said, ‘So you’re gonna make me listen to that the whole flight?’ And I said, ‘Well, do you want to?’ And she said, ‘No.’”
“I said, ‘Well, there was a nicer way to say that.’ And she said, “B**ch, you don’t tell me b**ch,’” Williams continued.
She also claims that this all occurred before the flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta took off, as people were still boarding. In the video, other passengers from the flight appeared to come to Williams’ defense. One woman who was sitting near Williams on the flight stopped to ask the reality star if she was okay, inquiring if there was anything she could do to help.
“I was there and I heard it was unreprehensible,” the passenger shared. “[She] got in your face and gave you the middle finger.”
“She started screaming,” Williams told the passenger. “I don’t know what she’s claiming she’s gonna press charges and say I hit her. I’m like, I did not hit her.”
A male passenger sitting two rows back, who says he witnessed the exchange, also told officers that Williams “did not touch her.” But the 70-year-old woman told officers a very different story.
According to the woman, Williams boarded last and spent roughly 25 minutes scrolling Instagram with her phone on “full blast” before she finally said something, sparking their tense exchange.
“Then I said, “Am I going to have to listen to that the whole time?” And she said, “Do you like it?” And I said, “No.” And she said, “Well, I don’t like the way you asked me.” I said, “Don’t put this on me,’” the 70-year old explained. “And the next thing I know, there was a fingernail so close to my eye that I thought I was going to be physically attacked. She had her hands in my face, screaming, calling me crazy.”
The woman went on to claim that, with flight attendants strapped in for takeoff and unable to intervene, Williams slapped her phone out of her hand as she attempted to record the incident “to try and protect” herself, causing the phone to fall into the aisle.
“That’s assault,” she added. “I’m 70 years old and here’s what I’m afraid of; I’m afraid she’s gonna have me killed.”
The Atlanta FBI is reportedly investigating the incident and says they are “looking to see whether any federal charges may or may not apply.” Meanwhile, Williams’ lawyer, Joe Habachy, told People magazine that the star was “verbally assaulted by an irate and unhinged passenger without provocation.”
