Joey King Says a Plane Passenger Mistook Her for Someone With Cancer Because of Her Shaved Head

De Elizabeth
Updated
And she says he took a photo of her without her consent.

Joey King made fans’ jaws drop when she revealed that she’d shaved her head for an upcoming role, with people telling the actor she’s “amazing and so beautiful” after she debuted her new look on Instagram. But not everyone has been so nice about The Kissing Booth star’s chic new style, as King pointed out on social media.

In a Twitter post on November 18, the 19-year-old revealed that a man sitting next to her on a plane mistook her for a person with cancer — and then allegedly snapped a photo of her without her consent. “Y’all I’m on a plane and this man next to me literally turned to me with his phone in my face and took a photo of me as if I wouldn’t notice and texted his wife that he’s sitting next to a girl who has cancer (just cuz I’m bald) and that he’s scared to ‘catch it,’” King tweeted, adding in all caps: “Y R PPL STUPID SUMTIMES.”

The actor then added a second tweet, describing the passenger's text in more detail: "I read his text over his shoulder it said 'Some bald chick next to me with fckn cancer coughed and I don’t wanna catch it'.....um ya jokin?"

It goes without saying that there are many upsetting details to King's experience. For the record, cancer is not contagious, as noted by the American Cancer Association (ACA). “There is no evidence that close contact or things like sex, kissing, touching, sharing meals, or breathing the same air can spread cancer from one person to another,” the ACA writes on its website.

Furthermore, just because someone has a shaved head doesn’t mean that they are living with cancer. Hair loss can occur for people with cancer who are undergoing chemotherapy; according to the Mayo Clinic, this happens because chemotherapy drugs can sometimes attack cells in a person’s hair roots while they're trying to attack cancer cells. For people who are living with cancer, the side effect of hair loss can be an emotional experience, and comments like those from King's airplane seatmate could be extremely hurtful.

What’s more, shaming anyone for their appearance is never OK, no matter the circumstance or context. And taking photos of someone without their consent is an invasion of privacy, and completely wrong.

Luckily, it seems as though Joey’s fans have her back. “This makes me sick... like women shave their heads since forever!!” one person tweeted in response. Another fan remarked that Joey should be proud of her short hair, commenting “you are a strong, beautiful, and confident woman who doesn’t need hair to feel beautiful.” Some people had suggestions for what Joey should say in response (including plenty of quips about stupidity being contagious), while this one fan summed it up by saying: “This is horrible...I’m so sorry, Joey.”

Hopefully, Joey’s experience will teach others to be kinder — and raise some important awareness about facts.

Now, check out these hair stories:

Now, watch Maddie Ziegler try 9 things she's never done before:

See the video.