“It is very rare that I’m flying and there isn’t a problem with my chair or I’m not talked down to,” Bode said in a recent TikTok video.

Marissa Bode accuses airline of denying her access over her wheelchair: ‘You should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves’

"It is very rare that I'm flying and there isn't a problem with my chair or I'm not talked down to," Bode said in a recent TikTok video.

By Sharareh Drury

April 24, 2026 6:04 p.m. ET

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Marissa Bode. Credit:

Matthew Taplinger/CBS via Getty

- Marissa Bode shared a recently upsetting experience with an airline that allegedly refused to let her board because she uses a wheelchair.

- The *Wicked *star claims she was initially informed she could not board as she would have to use stairs, before being told the weight of her wheelchair was an issue.

- "Disabled people are not an afterthought," Bode said she told Southern Airways staff.

Marissa Bode is opening up about an upsetting experience with an airline.

The *Wicked *actress claimed in a TikTok video posted Thursday, April 23 that she was "denied access" on Southern Airways because she is a wheelchair user. In her video, Bode says the incident occurred while she was en route to a speaking engagement in a small town in Pennsylvania.

The 25-year-old actress says when she approached a Southern Airways gate to ask for help locating her boarding pass, Bode was allegedly told that she would not be able to board the plane.

"The two people at the gate look at me, and they are like, 'Can you stand?' and I said 'No.' And they said, 'I'm sorry, but because of that, we're going to have to deny you boarding.'" Bode claimed in the video, adding that she was told all of Southern Airways uses stairs to get on board.

The actress said she asked the two gate agents if disabled people have ever flown with that particular airline before, to which she was allegedly told "No" and that "even the elderly have a hard time getting up those stairs."**

"Why are we once again waiting around for a disabled person to be present, to even think about changing things or accommodating things, and even then I know they're not gonna do it," Bode said in her video. "And that's exactly what I said to him. I was like, 'Disabled people are not an afterthought.'"

Bode said she continued to say that she made it clear the act of denying her access to board was "blatant segregation." Once she made that point, the actress was allegedly informed the issue was now the weight of her wheelchair being combined with all the luggage on the plane.

"My chair is 35 pounds. I am heavier than my chair. My chair is probably less than other people's luggage, which is exactly what I told him. And then when he realized what he said was bulls---, he started fumbling," Bode said.**

Marissa Bode at 'Wicked: For Good' premiere in 2025.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

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"This is what I mean when I say it is always something when I'm flying," Bode said, having noted earlier in her video that she intended to share what allegedly happened so "other disabled peers out there" are aware of this experience and to not fly Southern Airways.

"It is very rare that I'm flying and there isn't a problem with my chair or I'm not talked down to," she said before recounting another frustrating flying experience in which her wheelchair was nearly sent to San Francisco despite her not living there. "I ended up having to wait an hour in between my flights to get my chair back, because they put a luggage tag on my chair instead of a wheelchair tag, and had it under somebody else's name."

Bode said that she ended up calling her manager while at the gate, who told her and the Southern Airways agents that he had been assured by the airline that Bode would be accommodated upon boarding.

"What is so frustrating to me about all of this is that it's always them saying, 'Oh, this was just a miscommunication,'" Bode said. "It's so frustrating because it is more than just bad miscommunication... These are our lives. This is our entire existence, you're talking about. My wheelchair is my freedom."**

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Bode said the alleged incident upset her so much she was "crying out of frustration" in the airport.

"I look like a crazy person." Bode continued. "I look like the one that's in the wrong. I look like a f---ing Karen. And that's how airport staff treat you when you're like, 'Hey, you f---ed up my mobility device. Hey, you tagged my chair wrong, and it's this close to going to San Francisco, where I do not live. Hey, you told me I could board this flight.'"

The actress explained that the alleged incident ended with her having to get a three-and-a half-hour ride to her destination, and that Southern Airways should be "ashamed" for how they treated her.

"And airlines as a whole, once again, do f---ing better," she said at the end of her video.**

** has reached out to Bode and Southern Airways for comment.

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