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Kim Kardashian, Kanye West in JFK Airport Security Snafu

By Tanya Roth, Esq. on February 14, 2013 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Big celebrities have many perks. But is skipping the dreaded airport security checkpoint one of those perks?

It's not supposed to be. But for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, they apparently (almost) lucked out at New York's JFK airport earlier this week. While they were trying to make a connecting flight on their way home from Brazil, the couple somehow cleared customs and skipped security, Access Hollywood reports.

From what the Transportation Security Administration is saying, Kim and Kanye were escorted through a non-public area at JFK and sped through the airport to that they could get to their connecting flight on time.

But in that process, the couple circumvented the TSA security line.

Once the TSA realized that the star couple had gone around security, the TSA conducted a private screening on Kim and Kanye on the jetway. Their flight was delayed for 50 minutes, although American Airlines claims that the delay was only partially due to the security issue, SFGate.com reports.

Now, an airport security guard is under investigation as a result of the incident. It is reported that the security guard (who's being called an American Airlines greeter by some media outlets) met the couple at their arriving flight from Brazil and whisked them away immediately.

While it's unlikely that this type of incident will spur any lawsuits, it could potentially cause problems for American Airlines. The violation of protocol is a matter of security, even if the stars involved aren't considered security threats.

The question that arises after this incident is that if such a security breach is capable of occuring this once, how many times have such incidents happened in the past? And what role are star-struck airline employees playing in assisting celebrity security breaches?

This time, the TSA caught on, treating Kim and Kanye like any other airport passenger. And with the investigation, hopefully security breaches such as this one won't happen again.

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