Stephen Amell Downplays Drunken Plane Incident, Claims It Was Not an Argument With His Wife That Got Him Removed From a Flight

Stephen Amell — who played Oliver Queen on CW’s Arrow for eight seasons — got booted from a Delta flight this summer. The headlines at the time claimed the incident involved a fight with his wife, Cassandra Jean Amell.

Now, he’s clearing the air and sharing what really went down. The 40-year-old says it wasn’t an argument with his wife that got him removed from the flight.

Stephen Amell admits he had too much to drink before getting on the plane

During an appearance on former CW star Michael Rosenbaum’s podcast Inside of You, Amell took the opportunity to share his side of the story about what happened on that Delta flight in Austin, Texas, last June. He started off by admitting that he had too much to drink before the flight.

“I wanted to have just a slight runway here to talk about this because what happened was — and it’s very, very simple — I had too many drinks, and I had too many drinks in a public place. And, I got on a plane,” Amell told Rosenbaum.

The former ‘Arrow’ star doesn’t remember what he was mad about

Amell explained that the reason he wanted to talk about the drunken plane incident was because he was “pissed off about something else that had nothing to do with Cass, my wife, and I picked a fight.” However, he now admits that he doesn’t remember what he was mad about.

The former Arrow star says an airline official approached him while the plane was parked and told him he needed to keep his voice down. But he says he continued being loud and “was probably dropping a few F-bombs.”

Stephen Amell insists it was NOT an argument that got him removed from the flight

Amell admitted that he “picked a fight” because he wanted to be “loud and upset.” But he insists he wasn’t having an argument with his wife because he was the only one talking.

“And it was a fight, as in like, it was not an argument. In order to have an argument, two people have to be talking,” Amell explained. “My wife said one thing the entire time, which was, ‘If you don’t lower your voice, they’re going to ask you to get off the plane.’ That’s the only thing that she said the entire time.”

He realizes that his wife was “100 percent right” because he was being loud. And he now admits that he’s “deeply ashamed” of what happened.

The ‘Arrow’ star had to take another flight home

Amell says he was quiet for about 10 minutes. But he had clearly “made somebody uncomfortable” and “someone had said something.” Eventually, it was decided that Amell needed to leave and he was told “you’ve got to get off the plane.”

The actor had to take another flight home, grabbing the middle seat of row 17. Amell says he learned that his drunken plane incident was about to make headlines on TMZ. And then he tweeted about it and referred to it as an argument between him and his wife.

Stephen Amell admits to being ‘an a–hole in public’

Amell’s tweet read, “My wife and I got into an argument Monday afternoon on a Delta flight from Austin to LA. I was asked to lower my voice and I did. Approximately 10 minutes later I was asked to leave the flight. And I did so immediately. I was not forcibly removed.”

But after he tweeted that statement, he realized he needed to clarify what happened and take full responsibility.

“It was not an argument… This is 100 percent my fault,” the actor insisted. “Like, I feel like I went the better part of 10 years without being an a–hole in public. I was an a–hole in public.”

Amell says the whole thing was “really, really shameful,” and it made him look in the mirror. Which helped him realize a couple of things.

“If people are going to recognize you, don’t necessarily drink in a public place, but more importantly, don’t drink in a public place if you can’t handle your s–t,” Amell said. “Ultimately [I’m] very ashamed of it. Trying to make amends for it, specifically with my wife.”

Amell’s new show, Heels, airs Sunday nights on Starz.