NationStates Jolt Archive

ABC NEWS.COM
24, 2004 — She was singled out, told to strip off her shirt in public and obtrusively patted down at airport security. But actress Patti LuPone is not complaining about the search, she's just asking for better communication.

It happened at Fort Lauderdale International Airport, when she was picked out for a "secondary screening" that turned into a humiliatingly intrusive experience.


Video: Humiliating Pat-Downs

"I kept going, 'this is really rude, what is going on? What is going on?'" LuPone told "Good Morning America" today. "I was shocked that I had been felt up."

Ever since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, airport security has been ratcheted up across the United States, and these days, female passengers aren't exempt from thorough checks.


By all accounts, there's every reason to be cautious. In August, two Russian planes crashed almost simultaneously shortly after taking off from a Moscow airport, killing at least 90 people on board. Investigators suspect that two women linked to the Chechen conflict had smuggled high-grade explosives on board.

And in the Middle East, some Palestinian women have taken advantage of their traditional flowing robes to hide explosives-laden belts for suicide missions.

"There are very sinister ways of hiding weapons or explosives on terrorists' bodies," said Mark Hatfield, Transportation Safety Administration spokesman. "We need to combat that threat."



An Involuntary 'Breast Exam'

LuPone, 55, a Tony and Drama Desk award-winning Broadway actress, is no female terrorist. The star of musicals such as "Sweeney Todd" and "Evita" told "GMA" that it was not the fact that she was singled out, but the manner in which it was carried out that was most offensive.

After being made to take off her shirt, which she said "exposed her," a female screener gave her a "breast exam."

"Without asking, without telling me what was going on, just boom, in and when I was looking at the right breast she had already moved to the left breast," she said. "It was quite shocking, humiliating and there was no explanation."



'You Need to Communicate'

It was the failure to inform her about what was going on or what a secondary screening would entail that most upset LuPone.

"I said to these screeners, I said, 'you need to communicate with the passengers,' " she said. "I don't think there's a passenger that would not cooperate to their fullest if they knew what was going on."

But after she had filed a complaint, LuPone charged that TSA screeners told her they were not allowed to tell passengers what was going on.

Speaking on "Good Morning America" today, David Stone, a TSA spokesman, said he was aware of LuPone's complaint.


In an attempt to put the problem in perspective, he said that about 15 percent of the 2 million people who fly every day are now subjected to pat-downs. And out of that figure, the TSA receives an average of about 12 to 14 complaints a week about screeners' failures to communicate with passengers.


"I take that comment and her feedback seriously," said Stone. "The whole organization does. Even though it's 12 or 14 a week, each of those complaints needs to be remedied and we need to make sure our screeners get it right every time."



Getting It Right

Out of roughly 100 million airline passengers since Sept. 20 — when the more-aggressive procedures took effect — until Nov. 14 — the last date for which figures are available — the TSA has logged 260 complaints, mostly from women.

Businesswoman Nancy Kho was one who thought a female screener went way too far.

"She felt up underneath my bra straps and just about everywhere else, you know," said Kho, during an interview with "World News Tonight." "It was very thorough. And the whole time it was happening, I was just in full view of all the other travelers."

For LuPone, a frequent airline traveler, a minor change in the way torso searches are accomplished would be welcome. "I deserve to know," she said. "Then you can do whatever you want, but if you don't tell me and you think you can cop a feel, I'm going to have a problem."
ABC NEWS.COM

ABC NEWS.COM
24, 2004 — She was singled out, told to strip off her shirt in public and obtrusively patted down at airport security. But actress Patti LuPone is not complaining about the search, she's just asking for better communication.

It happened at Fort Lauderdale International Airport, when she was picked out for a "secondary screening" that turned into a humiliatingly intrusive experience.


Video: Humiliating Pat-Downs

"I kept going, 'this is really rude, what is going on? What is going on?'" LuPone told "Good Morning America" today. "I was shocked that I had been felt up."

Ever since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, airport security has been ratcheted up across the United States, and these days, female passengers aren't exempt from thorough checks.


By all accounts, there's every reason to be cautious. In August, two Russian planes crashed almost simultaneously shortly after taking off from a Moscow airport, killing at least 90 people on board. Investigators suspect that two women linked to the Chechen conflict had smuggled high-grade explosives on board.

And in the Middle East, some Palestinian women have taken advantage of their traditional flowing robes to hide explosives-laden belts for suicide missions.

"There are very sinister ways of hiding weapons or explosives on terrorists' bodies," said Mark Hatfield, Transportation Safety Administration spokesman. "We need to combat that threat."



An Involuntary 'Breast Exam'

LuPone, 55, a Tony and Drama Desk award-winning Broadway actress, is no female terrorist. The star of musicals such as "Sweeney Todd" and "Evita" told "GMA" that it was not the fact that she was singled out, but the manner in which it was carried out that was most offensive.

After being made to take off her shirt, which she said "exposed her," a female screener gave her a "breast exam."

"Without asking, without telling me what was going on, just boom, in and when I was looking at the right breast she had already moved to the left breast," she said. "It was quite shocking, humiliating and there was no explanation."
Awwww! Poor BABY! Perhaps if we make sure ALL of the Hollywood elitists get stripsearched, they'll finally get the hint and leave the Country!

One can only hope!

Thats it. Cavity search time. I'm taliking Roater Rooter. Don't stop until you get to the back of her teeth.

Awwww! Poor BABY! Perhaps if we make sure ALL of the Hollywood elitists get stripsearched, they'll finally get the hint and leave the Country!

One can only hope!
Hollywood sets the moral standard for America. If only red state primitives didnt keep dragging the rest of the country down to their level

Thats it. Cavity search time. I'm taliking Roater Rooter. Don't stop until you get to the back of her teeth.
ROLF :D :D :D

Who is this anyway.

Hollywood sets the moral standard for America. If only red state primitives didnt keep dragging the rest of the country down to their level

Not to mention in the red states, full-body searches are conducted while Dueling Banjos play over the speakers.

Hollywood sets the moral standard for America. If only red state primitives didnt keep dragging the rest of the country down to their level
Hollowood? "Moral standard???" ROFLMAO!!!!!

Not to mention in the red states, full-body searches are conducted while Dueling Banjos play over the speakers.

It called feuding banjos, duh. :rolleyes:

What are you, some kind of blue state ignoramus? :)

If the lefties wouldn't whine about racial profiling we wouldn't need to stop as many people as we do. But they do whine and so shit like this occurs as a byproduct.

Moral standards?

Like Sean Penn who beat the hell out of Madonna while they were married?

Rober Downey Jr who has his own wing at the Betty Ford clinic?

Like Roman Polanski who tried to seduce a married woman on the way to his wife's funeral and raped a 13 year old girl?

Like Harrison Ford who dumped his wife (the mother of his 3 children) so he could run off with Callista Flockhart?

Are those the morals you think we should live up to?

I don't want to judge other people. I'm not going to blame Hollywood people for some kind of perceived moral decline in America. I don't even care about their unrealistically left wing opinion (they way they express these opinions on the other hand....).

But to say that they are the moral standard for the country is ludicrous

Not to mention in the red states, full-body searches are conducted while Dueling Banjos play over the speakers.

boy, that brings back bad memories of my trip to Georgia.

Hollowood? "Moral standard???" ROFLMAO!!!!!

Redcist State "Moral Standard???" ROFLMAO!!!!!

Moral standards?

Like Sean Penn who beat the hell out of Madonna while they were married?

Rober Downey Jr who has his own wing at the Betty Ford clinic?

Like Roman Polanski who tried to seduce a married woman on the way to his wife's funeral and raped a 13 year old girl?

Like Harrison Ford who dumped his wife (the mother of his 3 children) so he could run off with Callista Flockhart?

Are those the morals you think we should live up to?

I don't want to judge other people. I'm not going to blame Hollywood people for some kind of perceived moral decline in America. I don't even care about their unrealistically left wing opinion (they way they express these opinions on the other hand....).

But to say that they are the moral standard for the country is ludicrous

So is saying that racism and intolerance a "Moral Standard"...lol. Give me a break, please.

Who is this anyway.
dunno--she must be one of those porn actresses

[QUOTE=MacrosolidAre those the morals you think we should live up to?

I don't want to judge other people. I'm not going to blame Hollywood people for some kind of perceived moral decline in America. I don't even care about their unrealistically left wing opinion (they way they express these opinions on the other hand....).

But to say that they are the moral standard for the country is ludicrous[/QUOTE]

the red states have a higher divorce rate than most of the country. the only state that beats the bible belt is nevada (i think) just go to www.fuckthesouth.com (if i got that right)

Who is this actress? :confused:

Moral standards?

Like Sean Penn who beat the hell out of Madonna while they were married?

Rober Downey Jr who has his own wing at the Betty Ford clinic?

Like Roman Polanski who tried to seduce a married woman on the way to his wife's funeral and raped a 13 year old girl?

Like Harrison Ford who dumped his wife (the mother of his 3 children) so he could run off with Callista Flockhart?

Are those the morals you think we should live up to?

I don't want to judge other people. I'm not going to blame Hollywood people for some kind of perceived moral decline in America. I don't even care about their unrealistically left wing opinion (they way they express these opinions on the other hand....).

But to say that they are the moral standard for the country is ludicrous
ummm..moral standards like Neil Bush, who had a hand in the Savings and loans scandal, divorced his wife after being caught with asain hookers. Or Like Rush Limbaugh drug addict and frequent marrying and getting divorced. just 2 off the top of my head.

Didn't I just point out how you can't look to celebrities for moral standards?

Did I say the red states were havens of morality?

I said no such thing so taking examples of divorce rates and Rush Limbaugh is pointless.

And Spiffy, generalizing the "red states" as racist and intolerant is either ironic or hypocritical.

Dakini, you and the author of that site need lessons in history.

This may shock you, but several of our Founding Fathers were from the South. And thats just for starters.

Patti LuPone
Who?

Roman Polanski
Who?

Sean Penn
Who?

The only reason this story is getting any attention is because it was an actor who it happened to . . .

While I don't like it, the actress should have taken this up on an individual level

Didn't I just point out how you can't look to celebrities for moral standards?

Did I say the red states were havens of morality?

I said no such thing so taking examples of divorce rates and Rush Limbaugh is pointless.

And Spiffy, generalizing the "red states" as racist and intolerant is either ironic or hypocritical.

You sounded like you are some moral religious nutjob and thinks everyone in Hollywood is "sinful".

Yes, I nominate taking what everyone else says wildly out of context.

http://www.pattilupone.net/bio.html

Dont you people GOOGLE???

Dont make me don blaze orange and vang your asses.

Dont make me don blaze orange and vang your asses.

So how is it you get to have such a massive character count in your signature?

The TSA should use this as a recruitment tool!!!! Can you imagine this employment ad?

Join the TSA and feel up your favorite celebrities!!!! Just ask our employee with the highest morale...

http://sc.groups.msn.com/tn/36/42/ROCKMETALPUNKGOTHCLASSICROCK/4/18.jpg
QUAGMIRE: Gigady gigady gigady, alright!!

Join the TSA!!! Quagmire loves it, so will you.

When I read the title of this thread my first thought was that she didn't get cuddled afterwords. ;)

Who is this actress? :confused:
Im not sure if they showed her face

Dont make me don blaze orange and vang your asses.
:D :D :D

:D :D :D
did you get the reference dude?
btw, gimme a tg... i got something to tell ya :D

I'm not flying anywhere really soon, and I hope they change this by the time I do. I don't feel that the government has the right to ask the TSA to get intimate with me before I'm allowed to travel, and I don't particularly want to get intimate with them either. If it comes to it, I'll make it quicker by giving them a goddamned good flash, just so they can see that there's nothing there, and I'll do it in front of all the other passengers, and let's see if that officer hasn't quit a month later. I wouldn't work under those conditions either.

I think that if enough people protested by flashing, and I mean a whole lot of them, the government would have little choice but to stop intruding where they haven't got the right.

Maybe people should stage a massive protest against strip searches.

How DARE she think that the searchers should actually notify her about what they're doing before they actually do it! Next she'll expect the police to have something that gives them permission to search her house!

And we all know where this leads. That's right folks, if she continues complaining like this, well, we might even see the day when law enforcement can't force people to house them. THAT'S where this is leading. For shame.

dunno--she must be one of those porn actresses

Wrong, wrong, quite wrong.

Patty Lupone is a well respected stage actress -- she won the Tony Award for her rendition of "Evita". She is most recently known as the actress from the drama series of about ten years ago, "Life Goes On". She played the mother.

Clearly this is upsetting, and any search of this sort should DEFINITELY not be done right in the passenger terminal. I don't think she was complaining that as an actress it should not have happened to her -- merely that the female screener should have provided some privacy and should have let her know what they were doing before she started pawing Ms. Lupone.

Wrong, wrong, quite wrong.

Patty Lupone is a well respected stage actress -- she won the Tony Award for her rendition of "Evita". She is most recently known as the actress from the drama series of about ten years ago, "Life Goes On". She played the mother.

Clearly this is upsetting, and any search of this sort should DEFINITELY not be done right in the passenger terminal. I don't think she was complaining that as an actress it should not have happened to her -- merely that the female screener should have provided some privacy and should have let her know what they were doing before she started pawing Ms. Lupone.

It's amazing that once people find out she's an actress, they automatically assume she's wrong about whatever she's saying.

Look at the people who have been insulting her and praising what happened-they don't even know what the fuck actually happened!

I'm amazed how everybody seems to have missed the point.

Of course this poor woman is seeking communication.

I mean, its all well and good to have your breasts fondled, but the bastard could have called later. Just a simple phone call, that's all.

Men are bastards.

I'm impressed MKULTRA, it wasn't from democracynow.com.

I've never been fond of increased airport security but I think this was an isolated case, not the normal event. Hell, I've been searched and no one goes after my croch when they search me.

Awwww! Poor BABY! Perhaps if we make sure ALL of the Hollywood elitists get stripsearched, they'll finally get the hint and leave the Country!

One can only hope!

Aside from the fact that she's a Broadway actress and not a "Hollywood elitist", you're an ass.

I'm impressed MKULTRA, it wasn't from democracynow.com.

I've never been fond of increased airport security but I think this was an isolated case, not the normal event. Hell, I've been searched and no one goes after my croch when they search me.

Oh you poor thing.

Perhaps you could try flirting with them a little.

We are such assholes i know: next time i fondle a women i will make sure to follow through... sorry.

http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~schmidt/gifs/failure.jpeg

Wrong, wrong, quite wrong.

Patty Lupone is a well respected stage actress -- she won the Tony Award for her rendition of "Evita". She is most recently known as the actress from the drama series of about ten years ago, "Life Goes On". She played the mother.

Clearly this is upsetting, and any search of this sort should DEFINITELY not be done right in the passenger terminal. I don't think she was complaining that as an actress it should not have happened to her -- merely that the female screener should have provided some privacy and should have let her know what they were doing before she started pawing Ms. Lupone.
I guess a female groper might have made her feel better

Those who sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither.

This country is so screwed up, it's not even funny.

You sounded like you are some moral religious nutjob and thinks everyone in Hollywood is "sinful".
No, not "sinful," just immoral, hypocritical, brazen, egotistical, self-centered and incapable of determining the difference between reality and their own public relations propaganda.

This country is so screwed up, it's not even funny.
Perhaps you could start by looking in the mirror.