Actor Forrie J. Smith Allegedly ‘Kicked Off’ Flight for Refusing to Sit Beside Masked Passenger

Forrie J. Smith (L) in Las Vegas, Nev., on Dec. 7, 2023. Greg Doherty/Getty Images for Bingham's Bourbon

Actor Forrie J. Smith, known for portraying ranch hand Lloyd Pierce on the hit television series “Yellowstone,” claims he was recently removed from a flight after refusing to sit beside a masked passenger.

Mr. Smith, 65, took to Instagram over the weekend to recount the experience to his over half a million followers.

“You need to hear this story,” he wrote in the caption alongside the clip. “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,” the actor explained in the video.

He said he had just been kicked off a plane in Houston because he told the flight attendant that he didn’t feel comfortable sitting next to someone wearing a mask.

Mr. Smith admitted that he had been drinking before the alleged confrontation, noting that he had “been sitting in the airport for three hours.”

“Yeah, I’m drinking,” he said. “I ain’t drunk, but they throw me off the plane ‘cause I’m drunk because you people won’t stand up and tell everybody what [expletive] this is.”

The actor added: “I just told them I didn’t feel comfortable about sitting next to somebody that had to wear a mask, and I’m off the plane.”

‘I Will Not Get Vaccinated’

In addition to masks, Mr. Smith has been a vocal critic of vaccine mandates.

In February 2022, the Hollywood stuntman announced that he would not be attending the 28th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, presented by SAG-AFTRA, over requirements that all attendees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

At the time, “Yellowstone” was nominated for “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series” alongside Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” Apple TV Plus’ “The Morning Show,” Netflix’s “Squid Game,” and HBO’s “Succession.”

“I want to apologize to y'all for not being at the Screen Actors Guild Awards,” Mr. Smith shared in a since-deleted Instagram video, per Deadline. “I mean no offense to anyone. I’m not vaccinated, and it’s a requirement to be vaccinated.”

“I’m not vaccinated, I will not get vaccinated,” he continued. “I haven’t been vaccinated since I was a little kid. I don’t vaccinate my dogs, I don’t vaccinate my horses. I’ve never had a flu shot. I never will. I believe they compromise your immunities. … It’s no offense to anyone. It’s just my beliefs. I just don’t believe in that stuff. Whatever.”

Although COVID-19 protocols for the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2024 are not yet listed on the website, the rules for 2023 included vaccine requirements.

“Again, we require all attendees to be fully vaccinated with the primary series of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine plus a minimum of one booster, if eligible,” the website reads. “Attendees will also need to submit a negative test result (antigen or PCR) within 72 hours of the individual’s first appearance on-site.”

Hollywood launched a sweeping vaccine mandate in September 2020 that required COVID-19 vaccines as a condition of employment.

The requirement—implemented by SAG-AFTRA and other major production guilds and unions, including the Directors Guild of America and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees—ended in May 2023, per Deadline.

In December, more than 100 SAG-AFTRA members filed individual suits, highlighting the union’s “poorly enacted” return-to-work agreement, which “subjected SAG-AFTRA union members to invasive testing, masking, and being banned from work,” according to a press release from Protection of the Educational Rights of Kids.

In a statement, SAG-AFTRA said “the claims are without merit,” noting that it would seek their dismissal, Deadline reported.

The SAG-AFTRA statement said the union “has already defended and obtained dismissal of other charges brought against it before the National Labor Relations Board relating to the return-to-work agreement.”

Celebs Slam Vaccine Mandates

Mr. Smith isn’t the only celebrity to lambast Hollywood’s vaccine requirements over the years. A host of stars, including rapper Nicki Minaj and actresses Letitia Wright and Evangeline Lilly, have publicly expressed concerns about getting vaccinated.

In July 2021, actor and comedian Rob Schneider took to social media to share his disdain for vaccine mandates.

“Just say no,” he wrote online. “And keep saying no... Over Half of the US population is continuing to say no to this unapproved experimental gene therapy! ‘My body, my choice!’”

Later that year, Dutch model Doutzen Kroes penned a lengthy Instagram post stating she “will not be forced to take the shot.”

“I will not be forced to prove my health to participate in society. I will not accept exclusion of people based on their medical status,” she wrote.

“Freedom of speech is a right worth fighting for but we can only solve this united in peace and love! Pass on the torch of hope and love and speak your truth,” she concluded.