Odell Beckham Jr. Opens Up On Incident Where He Was Kicked Off Flight

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by James Van WicklerJuly 21, 2025, 1:11 am >

Nearly three years ago, receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was removed from a flight from Miami to Los Angeles after he appeared to slip in and out of consciousness. The Miami-Dade Police Department released a statement following the incident, stating that the flight crew was concerned Beckham was ill and could deteriorate during the flight.

Beckham was asked to leave the flight, but refused until officers arrived and exchanged heated words with several other passengers. The entire plane was forced to deplane, and the flight was delayed.

Beckham opened up in detail about the incident during an interview with Haute Living, stating that he initially fell asleep after boarding the plane due to a flight delay, but was then woken up by multiple officers surrounding him and telling him to get off the plane.

“I bought a first-class seat on a specific flight to get home and see my son,” Beckham said. “I was one of the first people to board. The flight gets delayed for an hour while we’re sitting there, so I just go to sleep, like anybody else would do, and then I’m woken up – an hour and 20 minutes later – thinking I’m waking up to us landing in California, to nine officers surrounding me.”

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“They said, ‘Basically, you have to get off this flight.’ I was trying to ask why I was being removed from a flight where I had done absolutely nothing but fall asleep, and there was nothing wrong. They said I was unconscious, refusing to put my seatbelt on,” he continued. “Which makes no sense. If I was unconscious, how would I refuse anything?”

Beckham expressed regret for letting his emotions get the best of him, but he explained that he became angry due to several comments made by other passengers toward him, including one comment he said was racially charged.

“That’s where you see me talking s— to this guy,” he said. “But people don’t know that part. They just see me yelling. They think I’m trying to be seen. But at the time, I was like, ‘f—, my day is literally about to be ruined. I’m not going to get to see my son. There are no more flights to get me back home to see him. But then, I’m the headline. Odell Beckham Jr. causes a scene. It doesn’t make sense.”

“I let my emotions get the best of me,” Beckham said. “I was definitely hot.”