Yellowstone star Forrie Smith claimed he was “kicked off” a plane for refusing to sit next to a passenger who was wearing a mask.
“You know my social media people tell me that you like me face to face. But you know what, I can’t say face to face what I want,” Smith, 65, said via Instagram on Saturday, March 23. “Like, I just got kicked off a plane in … where the hell am I at?”
A voice in the background interjected, “You’re at Houston.”
“Houston, Texas,” he continued. “Because I told them that I didn’t feel comfortable sitting next to somebody with a mask on.”
In the clip, Smith admitted that he had “been drinking.” He added, “I’ve been sitting in the airport for three hours, yeah, I’ve been drinking. I ain’t drunk.”
He continued, “But they threw me off the plane because I’m drunk. Because you people won’t stand up and tell everybody what bulls–t this is. I just told them I didn’t feel comfortable about sitting next to somebody who had to wear a mask and I’m off a plane.”
The video cut out as Smith spoke mid-sentence. He captioned the post on Saturday, “You need to hear this story. #cowboy #country #western #yellowstone #yellowstonetv.”
Smith began as a recurring character in the hit Paramount drama series for the first two seasons and was promoted to a member of the main cast in season 3. He plays ranch hand Lloyd Pierce, who works at the Dutton Ranch.
When Yellowstone was nominated at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2022, Smith told his Instagram followers in a since-deleted post that he wouldn’t be in attendance because he refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19. (Yellowstone lost the nomination at the awards show for ensemble in a television drama to Succession.)
“I want to apologize to y’all for not being at the Screen Actors Guild Awards,” Smith said via Instagram at the time, per Variety. “I mean no offense to anyone. I’m not vaccinated, and it’s a requirement to be vaccinated.”
Smith added that he “will not get vaccinated. “I haven’t been vaccinated since I was a little kid. I don’t vaccinate my dogs, I don’t vaccinate my horses,” he said at the time. “I’ve never had a flu shot. I never will. I believe they compromise your immunities… It’s just my beliefs. I just don’t believe in that stuff. Whatever.”