Newly released bodycam footage from the Atlanta Police Department appears to shift the understanding of an onboard confrontation involving Porsha Williams, showing multiple passengers stepping forward to defend the Real Housewives of Atlanta star after an encounter with an elderly woman during a Delta Air Lines flight on November 16.
Williams, 44, was escorted off the aircraft after landing in Atlanta, a standard protocol when officers respond to an in-flight dispute. Her attorney initially stated she had been “verbally assaulted by an irate and unhinged passenger without provocation.”
On November 19, police released bodycam footage documenting the aftermath, including statements from Williams, the other passenger, and witnesses seated nearby, according to People.
In the video, Williams begins explaining the situation to officers when a female passenger approaches to check on her and immediately offers support. “I was there,” the witness told her. “What I heard was reprehensible. The woman got in your face and gave you the middle finger, and was doing things that were completely chaotic to you. I’m sorry. I’m embarrassed. I’m so sorry.”
A second witness—seated two rows behind Williams—then approached the officer and stated plainly: “She did not touch that lady.” He added that the confrontation began during boarding, escalating only after the elderly woman “got really animated and started screaming,” while Williams repeatedly said, “Don’t talk to me like that.”
According to Williams’ account in the footage, the other passenger told her to stop playing an Instagram video out loud before calling her a “b****.” Williams said the woman then demanded, “Who the f** do you think you are?” and attempted to record her.
Williams told police she asked to have the woman moved, calling her “upset and completely out of control.” Flight attendants eventually relocated the woman to another first-class row.
The police footage then shows the elderly woman—separately interviewed—offering a conflicting version. She claimed the incident happened during takeoff, stating flight attendants could not intervene because they were “buckled in.”
She alleged Williams brought her fingernail close to her eye, knocked her phone from her hand, and insisted Williams posed a danger, telling officers, “I’m afraid she’s going to have me killed.”
APD confirmed officers responded to a dispute between “two females” and separated the parties.
Police forwarded all statements to the FBI, which reviews potential violations that occur under federal “special aircraft jurisdiction.” A spokesperson reiterated that the agency is determining “whether any federal charges may or may not apply.”
Williams’s attorney maintains that the accusations against her contradict multiple eyewitness accounts. “The passenger then proceeded to make false allegations that were in direct conflict with observations from several eyewitnesses,” the statement read, adding that Williams intends to cooperate with authorities.
The investigation remains ongoing as federal officials evaluate the statements and footage collected from the scene.