New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith was kicked off a Virgin America flight bound to Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Friday night for having been involved in a dispute with a flight attendant over his headphones.
According to ESPN, the Jets QB was not arrested. The police did not file any incident report per Sgt. Belinda Nettles of the Los Angeles International Airport public information office.
A source told ESPN New York that "the altercation was triggered when a Virgin America flight attendant asked Smith to remove his headphones Smith didn't immediately respond because he didn't hear the flight attendant."
The same source said the flight attendant unplugged Smith's headphones and "threw them down," telling the quarterback he was a "threat" and asking him to leave the plane. The NFL player requested to speak with police, the source added.
Nettles said the police responded to an incident on board an aircraft, and that the person was questioned and released. She did not confirm nor deny that the person was Smith.
Meanwhile, a source told NYPost.com that the Jets star was on the plane, and the he was using his phone which led to the crew postponing its take-off. "So, the captain ordered him off the plane. Virgin America wouldn't rebook him," the airport source told NYPost.com.
Pressed for comment, a Jets team spokesman said: "We are aware of the [Internet] report and are researching the facts. We will have no comment at this time." Publicist Ron Berkowitz of Roc Nation, which represents Smith, also declined to comment.
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