TORONTO — Actor Chris O’Dowd criticized a London area airport on Tuesday after security screeners frisked his infant son and tossed his bottle in the trash.
O’Dowd, whose credits include Thor: The Dark World and Bridesmaids, posted a sarcastic tweet after flying out of Gatwick Airport.
“Thanks Gatwick security! Some might think body-searching a baby and binning his bottle was over zealous and weird, but not me! #ScaryBaby,” he tweeted to his 631,000 followers.
O’Dowd, 35, was at the airport with wife Dawn Porter, 36, and their two-month-old son Art.
The Irish actor was flying out of London after attending the LDNY Fashion Show and WIE Awards Gala at Goldsmiths Hall.
A spokesperson for Gatwick Airport refused to comment on O’Dowd’s experience but said parents are required to carry babies through the screening area. “If the scanning equipment picks up something, we have to check both the parent and the baby.”
Passengers travelling with babies are permitted to board with enough food, milk and water for the flight.
On April 9, actress Alyssa Milano took to Twitter to criticize London’s Heathrow Airport after security screeners confiscated bottles of breast milk.
“@HeathrowAirport just took my pumped breast milk away. 10 ounces. Gone. Not okay,” she tweeted. “They said they would let the pumped milk through if I had the baby with me. Why would I need to pump if I had the baby with me????”
Heathrow tweeted at Milano: “Unfortunately, without a baby present, the government requires all liquids in carry-ons to follow the 100ml rule.”
The 42-year-old star, who welcomed daughter Elizabella last September, later said in a statement: “To watch that milk be thrown away without any regard for my baby, was heartbreaking. It’s not the fault of the security in the airport; they’re following orders to keep us all safe. But I do I feel it is a policy that needs thoughtful reconsideration.
“I’m glad this has started a dialogue. My only hope is to make things easier for moms, breastfeeding and formula feeding moms, everywhere.”
Comments