Charlamagne defends airline policy saying particularly obese passengers must buy 2nd seat

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Charlamagne defends airline policy saying particularly obese passengers must buy 2nd seat

'So Southwest is making a push to cut costs, it’s the new year, you should make a push to cut weight,' Charlamagne suggested

Alexander Hall Fox News

Published

December 4, 2025 10:00am EST

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Charlamagne defends airline policy making some overweight passengers buy two seats

Radio host Charlamagne tha God defended an upcoming change to an airline's policy, arguing that particularly overweight people should have to pay for an additional seat in the same way tall people have to pay for extra legroom.

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Radio host Charlamagne tha God praised an upcoming airline policy change on Wednesday, saying obese passengers should consider eating less food if they don’t want to buy a second seat to accommodate their size.

Beginning on Jan. 27, 2026, Southwest Airlines will ditch open seating, having previously had a "pick any seat" policy, allowing customers to purchase tickets in different boarding groups by selecting where they wanted to sit upon boarding the plane.

The airline has also cautioned portly customers "who encroach upon the neighboring seat(s)" to proactively purchase the necessary number of seats prior to travel. Next month, however, such customers "will be required to purchase an additional seat and pay any applicable seat fee at the airport."

"Why don’t they just make them fly cargo?" Charlamagne asked on "The Breakfast Club" radio show as his crew discussed the upcoming change. "And furthermore, I don’t have a problem at all with this, OK? If you are too big for one seat, then you just got to buy two seats. Don't act like the plane is doing something to you. You know how big you are!"

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Charlamagne tha God is seen during a campaign event and conversation with Stacey Abrams, 21 Savage, and Francys Johnson at The HBUC on September 9, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images)

"But what if you don't got the bread to buy another seat, but you fat? You can’t control that," co-host Jess Hilarious said.

"Well, you shouldn't have been eating so much bread. You need to stop eating bread. All right? OK. By the way, tall people got to go through this, too! Tall people gotta buy the extra leg-room seats, so it ain’t just fat people that gotta deal with this. If you’re a tall person, you gotta buy extra legroom because you know you need it."

"I don’t think that this is any wrongdoing of the plane, is what I’m simply saying," Charlamagne said, going on to mention how stuffing somebody who does not fit well into a seat is not only a disservice to them, but to whomever sits next to them.

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Zoomed in picture of a man's stomach from 2005

Co-host Jess Hilarious said she might actually prefer to sit next to an obese person, suggesting it would offer extra cushioning. (Justin Sullivan)

He later concluded by telling listeners, "So Southwest is making a push to cut costs, it’s the new year, you should make a push to cut weight, okay? That should be your New Year's resolution."

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Charlamagne has spoken multiple times about the Democratic Party's cover-up of Biden's purported decline. (Derek White/Getty Images for iHeartMedia and The Black Effect Podcast Network)

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Alexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Alexander.hall@fox.com.

Charlamagne defends airline policy saying particularly obese passengers must buy 2nd seat