Salt-N-Pepa pop star, Sandra 'Pepa' Denton, kicked off Southwest Airlines flight after refusing to give up second seat she paid for

The 59-year-old spoke to TMZ in detail about the incident which took place earlier this week. The Kingston, Jamaica-born musical artist, had previously documented the aftermath of the incident on her Instagram account.

She explained to the outlet that while she'd paid for an extra seat to accommodate a knee injury she is living with, airline staff sought to get her to give up one of her seats. Pepa said she purchased two seats to give herself extra space for an injured knee, but wasn't wearing her protective brace when a flight attendant accosted her over the extra seat.

Quickly after, a man popped up asking Pepa for her extra seat, claiming he was en route to a funeral. According to TMZ, when Pepa asked him eye-to-eye to confirm the funeral story was true his lip quivered and he refused to do so. which she took to mean he was lying.

Pepa said that she tried to explain to the flight attendant that she had specifically bought the extra seat to alleviate potential pain she might suffer as result of her injury. “I was like, "Oh no this seat is taken, I have this seat as well," and he was like, "No you don’t, we’re gonna give this seat away" and I’m like, "No you’re not, cause I’ve always done this,"' Pepa said. “I’ve always purchased two seats, if I need it, for my leg to have extra leg room because of my injury to my knee”

Pepa told the man: “Well I’m not giving you my seat then and be uncomfortable, if you’re lying.” Denton said following that exchange, a flight attendant told her, “Get your things, you’re getting off,” which shocked her.

Pepa said she didn't understand how the situation escalated to the point in which she was being kicked off the flight. Another passenger on the flight, named Shannon McCormack, told the outlet that at no point did she see the pop star arguing with anyone until she was kicked off the flight.

Pepa said she was subsequently caught off-guard when law enforcement had been waiting for her after she was ejected from the plane. Southwest told TMZ that Denton was refunded $2500 she'd paid for the flight, and that the reason police were involved was because at that point she didn't have a valid ticket, and it's protocol for police to escort people who don't have valid tickets from the terminal. The airline said Pepa was kicked off the flight after not listening to instructions given to her by a crew member - without specifying what she ignored.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, Southwest said: “Our Flight Crews are responsible for the Safety and Comfort of all Passengers in the cabin. With that in mind, they denied boarding to the Customer and her ticket was refunded.”