Gray's anatomy star Ellen Pompeo revealed that she was recently taken into custody by the Transportation Security Bureau while trying to get on a plane for a snack.
“I had a bag of sunflower seeds like Elewon's organic sunflower seeds, so they were probably the most expensive sunflower seeds that you could buy money,” Pompeo told Travel + Leisure in an interview. “They literally hugged me for an hour and brought me a bomb squad.”
The 55-year-old actor initially thought he was a joke, saying he couldn't believe what was going on.
“They said it's likely to be a chemical in these super expensive, flashy, organic, clean sunflower seed packaging. My protein on the plane!” she said.
Pompeo asked TSA agents if they could throw away sunflower seeds, but said they would need to wait for the bombers to evaluate them.
“I hardly missed the flight. No one seemed to believe this.
Pompeo also admits that she is a nervous flyer and tries to lie down low on the flight, so fans won't recognize her.
“People recognize my voice, so I try not to speak,” she said. “I'm trying to use sign language with my kids. The moment I open my mouth, everyone turns it.”
This is not the first time a celebrity has run items in with the TSA before a flight.
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In 2017, flight attendant star Kayley Cuoco said she was stopped by security because she had two wine openers in her luggage.
“We were traveling to Australia and Carl (Cook) ends up putting down every time we pass security,” Kuoko said of her ex-husband, who appears on Jimmy Kimmel Live! ”
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“So on my last trip, I went in and said, 'Something bad is going to happen. I know something bad is going to happen,'” she said.
Cuoco asked a woman who works at the airport who holds a Gucci wallet and said she thought “I'll get a compliment to my wallet.”
“She goes, 'We need to see through your bag.' And I go, 'It's Gucci,' said Cuoco.
She said that TSA agents had gone through her bag and found the wine opening.
“Like a rabbit, like an arm. And I said, 'Oh, my god! That's a weapon,' adding that her ex-husband had already been taken to a “another room.”
“(I'm going) 'I'm sorry, I don't know why I have a wine opening game.' So, in my big bag, I have all these little bags.
She said she found a second wine opening after TSA agents started passing through all the bags.
“For some reason, I stabbed it there unconsciously,” she said. “I say, 'Oh, my god, I'm going to be on the list in flight.'” She says, 'You can't have these on the plane.' I said, “I know, I like alcohol.”
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