{"id":606464,"date":"2026-04-25T23:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T23:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/606464\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T23:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T23:37:09","slug":"marissa-bode-was-denied-boarding-a-flight-because-im-disabled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/606464\/","title":{"rendered":"Marissa Bode Was ‘Denied Boarding a Flight Because I’m Disabled’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cWicked<\/a>\u201d star Marissa Bode<\/a> posted a video on TikTok<\/a> on Thursday claiming she was recently barred from a Southern Airways flight because of her wheelchair.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI was denied boarding a flight because I\u2019m disabled,\u201d Bode said. \u201cI wish that were clickbait. I wish that were false, but that is what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBode explained that she was having trouble locating her virtual ticket before boarding her flight to Pennsylvania. When she asked the crew for assistance, they informed her she was not allowed on the plane because of her wheelchair.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSo I got to the gate, and I was like, \u2018Hey, could you help me locate my boarding pass?\u2019\u201d Bode recalled. \u201cAnd the two people at the gate look at me, and they are like, \u2018Can you stand?\u2019 And I said, \u2018No.\u2019 And they said, \u2018I\u2019m sorry, but because of that, we\u2019re going to have to deny you boarding.\u2019 They proceeded to tell me all the planes within this airline have stairs to get on the plane. Wild. Never heard of that before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe added, \u201cI was like, disabled people are not an afterthought. Why, knowing that disabled people exist, which y\u2019all clearly often forget, do you choose not to update your planes? And I was like, \u2018This is blatant segregation.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSouthern Airlines\u2019 contract of carriage<\/a> states that \u201ccustomers must be able to ascend and descend several steps to board the aircraft.\u201d The contract also states that because the Southern Airlines\u2019 planes hold \u201c28 or fewer passengers,\u201d it is exempt from providing mechanical lifts, a requirement set by the Air Carrier Access Act.<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, despite the policy, Bode said that her manager \u201cspoke to them beforehand and they fully assured that I would be set for my flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBode made her breakout playing Elphaba\u2019s sister, Nessarose, in 2024\u2019s \u201cWicked\u201d and last year\u2019s sequel \u201cWicked: For Good.\u201d Variety exclusively revealed<\/a> in January that Bode will star in the upcoming psychological thriller \u201cSnare,\u201d directed by Sonja O\u2019Hara and Adam Hoelzel. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn \u201cSnare,\u201d Bode will play Greta Mills, a mushroom researcher who falls prey to a violent love triangle. Greg Tarzan Davis of \u201cMission: Impossible \u2013 The Final Reckoning\u201d and \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d will also star.<\/p>\n