Actor Natasha Lyonne has claimed she was detained by ICE after being removed from a flight, but Homeland Security says that did not happen.
The 47-year-old, known for her roles in American Pie and Russian Doll, posted on social media saying she had been detained after boarding her flight with no issues. She said she had been on her way to appear on The Drew Barrymore Show.
Lyonne wrote that she boarded the plane with just a backpack and planned to sleep on the flight. She said ICE had “other plans” and that she was detained instead, adding that she had never previously had a problem with Delta or TSA.
Her comments came after celebrity gossip site Page Six reported a different version of events. An eyewitness quoted by the publication claimed Lyonne failed to respond to flight attendants and was escorted off the plane after causing a delay of around an hour.
Lyonne pushed back on that account and took aim at the publication online. She also expressed sympathy for unpaid TSA workers in her posts.
However, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, told Variety that neither ICE nor TSA escorted or detained Lyonne.
ICE has been at the centre of controversy in recent months over a series of high-profile detentions, including cases involving young children and a British tourist held for six weeks.
In this case, the full picture remains unclear. With both sides giving different accounts, what actually happened on that flight may not be known for some time.
