Ellen Pompeo says she was detained by TSA, bomb squad over sunflower seeds

Global News

03-06-2025

Grey's Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo revealed that she was recently detained by the Transportation Security Administration when she was trying to catch a flight, all due to a snack she was bringing on a plane.
'I had a bag of sunflower seeds, like organic sunflower seeds from Erewhon, so they were probably the most expensive sunflower seeds money can buy,' Pompeo told Travel + Leisure in an interview. 'They literally held me for an hour, and they brought the bomb squad in.'
The 55-year-old actor said she couldn't believe what was happening and thought it was a joke at first.
'They said it was most likely a chemical on the packaging of these super expensive, fancy, organic, clean sunflower seeds. My protein on the plane!' she said.
Pompeo said she asked the TSA agents whether they could just throw out the sunflower seeds, but they said they needed her to wait for the bomb squad to assess them.
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'I almost missed the flight. It was really like no one would ever believe this! I was texting my publicist saying, 'I might not get on this plane, and you're never gonna guess why,'' she added.
Pompeo also admitted that she is a nervous flyer and tries to lie low on flights so fans don't recognize her.
'People recognize my voice, so I try not to talk,' she said. 'I try to use sign language with my kids. The minute I open my mouth, everybody turns.'
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This isn't the first time a celebrity has had a run-in with TSA over items in their luggage before a flight.
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In 2017, The Flight Attendant star Kaley Cuoco said she got stopped by security for having two wine openers in her luggage.
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'We were travelling to Australia and Karl (Cook) ends up getting the pat-down every time we go through security,' Cuoco said of her now ex-husband in an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.'He's so unassuming, there's no reason why he should be getting a pat-down.'
'So the last travel, I walk in and he said, 'Something bad is going to happen. I know something bad is going to happen,'' she said, before noting that she told him everything was going to 'be fine.'
Cuoco said the woman working at the airport asked who had the Gucci purse and she said it was hers, thinking she was going to 'get a compliment on my purse.'
'She goes, 'We need to look through your bag.' And I go, 'It's Gucci,'' Cuoco said.
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She said the TSA agent went through her bag and found a wine opener.
'Like the arms one, like a rabbit. And I was like, 'Oh, my God! That's a weapon,'' she said, adding that her ex-husband had already been taken to 'another room.'
'(I go,) 'Sorry, I don't know why I carry a wine opener.' So then in my big bag, I have all these little bags. She goes, 'We need to search the rest of the bags,'' she recalled.
She said that once the TSA agent started going through all of her bags, she found a second wine opener.
'Somehow subconsciously I stuck it in there,' she said. 'I'm like, 'Oh, my God, I'm going to be on a no-fly list.' She goes, 'You can't have these on the plane.' I go, 'I know, I know. I just like alcohol.''