NBC News political analyst Mark Halperin sparked social media outrage over the weekend after he complained about being seated next to a bow tie-wearing dog named Charlie on an International flight.
While coach passengers are tangling with law enforcement, fighting with flight attendants over strollers and being forced to listen to a live Kenny G concert, mainstream media one-percenter Halperin was saddled with the unexpected horror of being accompanied across the ocean, in first class, by the most adorable emotional support animal in history.
The Internet, of course, took issue with Halperin’s classification of the situation, arguing – in some cases, stridently – that Halperin should be delighted, even consider himself lucky to have such a polite, friendly and dapper seat companion.
Halperin, sensing that no one agreed that Charlie the Bernedoodle (half Bernese Mountain dog, half Poodle mix) was a threat to this comfort level, backpedaled around twelve hours later, claiming that his comment was about how Delta had sat the service dog apart from his owner.
And then, he started a weird rant about how he was late, the flight was a red-eye, that he’d offered to move and that Delta had erred by separating the dog and its owner, expressing sympathy for the dog and even claiming that he offered to switch seats with the owner so that he could sit by his service animal.
But, like most amazing stories about air travel, Halperin’s dog saga didn’t end there. Charlie’s owner, a Delta flight attendant who had paid for seats for him and his dog (he wasn’t flying on a Delta “buddy pass” or deadheading to a different destination), released a statement on Charlie’s behalf, saying that Halperin was just plain rude – and a mess, to boot.
“Halperin (I had no idea who he was) calls for a flight attendant and tells her that he refuses to sit next to a dog—those were his exact words,” the statement read.
“Next thing you know the lead flight attendant asked if I minded giving Halperin 6A. It was so strange he wouldn’t even look or speak to me about it. I couldn’t believe how rude this guy was, carrying on as I sat right next to him. So I obliged, he moved into 6A and left his shoes and a mess in his little first class cubicle area. I politely brought him his shoes and belongings…he literally looked the other way and that was that.”
Charlie the dog took to Twitter to heal the relationship.
Halperin has yet to note whether he accepts sweet Charlie’s peace offering.