How ‘Saturday Night Live’ Alum Amy Poehler Spoke Her Mind to a Complaining Airline Passenger … And Then Some

Amy Poehler of 'SNL' fame once had an exchange with a fellow passenger in first class that included several obscenities... from her.

by Melissa Mitas

Published on January 19, 2021

3 min read

Amy Poehler and friends flew first class

Poehler admits to having a “quick temper” in her memoir Yes Please. The SNL star gave an example in a story that involved a flight with some of her friends.

“Once, I was flying from New York to Toronto with Tina Fey and Ana Gasteyer on our way to shoot Mean Girls,” Poehler recalled. “We were in first class and spent the hour-long, 10 a.m. flight chatting about life and work. The man sitting next to me was in an expensive suit on his way to a meeting, and I got the sense that he hated us and our friendly back-and-forth.”

The Baby Mama star picked up on some nonverbal cues from her seat mate, but chose to go about her business.

“A few times during the flight he sighed loudly, which I took as a sign that we were bothering him,” Poehler remarked. “I ignored it. Maybe that was a mistake, but sighing doesn’t really work on me.”

‘Parks and Rec’ alum got pushed after plane ride

Once Poehler’s flight landed and passengers began deplaning, the SNL alum had a run-in – literally – with her sighing neighbor.

“As we got off the airplane and headed toward the moving walkway, the man pushed past me and jostled me a bit,” Poehler wrote. “‘Excuse me,’ I said. ‘Excuse me? Excuse you!’ he said.”

Once she was face-to-face with the passenger, Poehler knew things were going to go downhill.

“I looked up at his boring, rich-guy face,” Poehler recalled. “He was turning red. I realized he was preparing to scold me. He had bumped into me on purpose to teach me a lessons. ‘You girls were talking the entire flight,’ he said. ‘You should not be in first class!'”

‘SNL’ star said ‘Tina was laughing … Or horrified’

The passenger’s tone didn’t sit well with Poehler, who was set off by his condescension.

“All of my lower-middle-class Boston issues rose to the surface,” Poehler wrote. “I don’t like it when bratty, privileged old white guys speak to me like I am their mouthy niece. I got that amazing feeling you get when you know you are going to lose it in the best, most self-righteous way.”

What followed was a quite colorful mishmash of curse words (one in particular) from Poehler, who had no problem letting her feelings be known.

“I just leaned back and yelled, ‘F*CK YOU,'” she revealed. “Then I chased him as he tried to get away from me. … ‘Who do you think you are? You’re not better than me. F*ck you and your f*cking opinions, you piece of s*it.’ And on and on. Tina was laughing. Or horrified. I don’t remember.”

Despite her strong response, Poehler added that “for the most part, I try not to yell ‘f*ck you.’ I try to say ‘yes please.’ And ‘thank you.’ ‘Yes please’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry sorry sorry.'”