A couple of days ago, I covered a story whereby an American Airlines passenger uploaded a video of him getting into a confrontation with a flight attendant after being caught vaping in the lavatory.
The self-proclaimed celebrity pickleball coach then accused the flight attendant of assault, claimed he was a lawyer (he’s not), threatened to share the video with his 25,000 (now 22,000) followers, and just acted with complete disrespect.
When the guy uploaded the video, clearly he thought he’d get support and sympathy, but that wasn’t the case, as the reaction to his behavior was overwhelmingly negative. Along those lines, there’s an interesting update…
“I can’t delete it, it’s already on the internet”
After receiving a ton of international attention over this incident, Peter “Kobe” Nguyen has now uploaded another Instagram post addressing this situation, which I find to be quite interesting. The picture has text written on it, which reads “I can’t delete it, it’s already on the internet.”
My expectation was that maybe he had self-reflected a bit, and was issuing an apology, or realizing how his behavior wasn’t good. Well, that’s not quite what he had to say. Instead, here’s what he wrote:
On August 4, 2025, something happened to me that I never imagined I’d have to go through — especially on a commercial airline.
While flying on American Airlines Flight 2860, my privacy and dignity were violated in ways that left me shaken, humiliated, and hurt. I’m sharing this because I believe no passenger should ever go through this.
The incident has impacted my mental health, my work, and my ability to trust the very systems meant to keep us safe. I have even lost a very important friend through all of this — someone I cared for deeply and who was an important part of my life.
I’m not just a CEO and nonprofit founder — I’m also a Hollywood producer. The reputational harm from this incident has been devastating to my career.
I have formally taken this matter to American Airlines’ legal department. My goal is not only accountability, but to make sure this never happens to anyone else.
I will fight for justice, privacy, and dignity for every passenger.
Take this as a lesson of how not to respond
We’re all human, and humans are imperfect beings. Sometimes we get things wrong. In those situations, I think the best course of action is just owning up to our mistakes, acknowledging that we screwed up, and promising to do better in the future.
Based on the quote he had on the picture — “I can’t delete it, it’s already on the internet” — I was expecting that he had taken time to reflect on the incident, and would apologize in some form, and acknowledge he wasn’t behaving his best.
But nope, instead he’s going in the opposite direction, and doubling down, while claiming that the “reputational harm from this incident has been devastating” to his career. His lack of self awareness here is something else, in my opinion.
He uses the word “privacy” twice — once to say that his privacy was violated, and another time to say that he’ll fight for privacy. Dude, you were the one who recorded the incident and uploaded it onto the internet for the world to see, not anyone else! If privacy was the concern, you have no one to blame but yourself.
He’s also demanding “accountability” for this incident, while not taking any accountability for the fact that he violated Federal Aviation Regulations by vaping on a plane. And he claims this incident has impacted his ability to “trust the very systems meant to keep us safe.” You mean, you’re angry that the system prevented you from vaping on a plane?
I’m really sorry for the impact this has had on his mental health, as obviously negativity can be difficult for people to deal with (regardless of who is at fault). At the same time, when he threatened the flight attendant by claiming he’d expose her to his 25,000 followers, did he consider the impact that might have on her mental health? Or is it only his mental health that matters?
This is just such an unfortunate doubling down, which only makes him look worse, in my opinion. I’d have so much more respect for him if he took even a morsel of responsibility for this. He doesn’t even acknowledge that he violated federal regulations, or that he was the one who caused the reputational harm by uploading this.
Bottom line
An American Airlines passenger was caught vaping on a flight, and then decided to film the situation, and upload it online. He was obviously expecting sympathy, but that’s not how it played out. Rather than now reflecting on his behavior, he’s promising to hold American accountable for violating his privacy (???), among other things.
What do you make of the way this passenger is doubling down?
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