Plus-sized model mocked on flight by fellow passenger

  • 03/07/2017
Natalie Hage fat-shamed
Abusive messages were sent about plus size model Natalie Hage. Photo credit: @nataliemeansnice/Instagram

A plus-sized model has shocked social media with her story of being fat-shamed on an American Airlines flight. 

When Natalie Hage took her seat on her flight to Los Angeles last week, the man next to her began, "LOUDLY huffing, sighing, and readjusting himself in his seat," she recounted on Facebook.

Ms Hage then saw the man begin to text, tilting his phone away from her. 

She suspected he was talking about her and managed to photograph the messages. 

"Not only were the texts about me, but they were really mean and ugly with even the recipient named Linda chiming back with shaming retorts," she said.

Linda commented, "hopefully she didn't have any Mexican food," to which the man responded, "I think she ate a Mexican." 

When Ms Hage confronted the abuser over his texts, he initially denied sending any. However when shown the photos of his messages, he reportedly apologised, blamed alcohol for his actions and then began to argue with Ms Hage over her seating. 

She warned him to "never treat anyone like that again."  

Ms Hage said she was not surprised by his behaviour. "This is a fat person's daily reality and not just on a plane".

She has since had an overwhelming outpouring of support through her social media pages. 

Newshub.