Celebrity4 min(s) read
Published 08:54 03 May 2026 GMT
A transgender actor has called out a fellow passenger after she caught him sending vile texts about her in a group chat during a recent flight.
Tommy Dorfman, best known for playing Ryan Shaver in Netflix's hit series 13 Reasons Why, took to Instagram on Friday (May 1) to expose the unnamed man, sharing close-up photos of his phone screen as he texted away in the seat right next to her in first class.
According to the screenshots shared by Dorfman on Instagram, the man fired off the same opening message to multiple people in his contacts.
"I am in the first aisle of First Class. Guess what is sitting next to me?" he wrote.
"A f***ing transsexual in the midst of going from a man to a woman. Just my luck. I was hoping for a hot babe!!"
To one contact, named Samantha, he added: "Two and a half hours of sitting next to this freak!!"
A short video clip Dorfman also posted appeared to show the man texting another contact about a flight attendant, writing: "The stewardess in the first-class cabin is hot as hell!!!! Offsets the freak!!"
Over the photo of the man, Dorfman added the caption: 'someone get your grandpa.'
The standout moment, according to commenters, came from one of the recipients of the man's texts.
A woman named Samantha replied: "Just remember many people you love are lgbtq+ and this country sucks for them right now. Be Kind!"
She also wished him safe travels.
Dorfman, clearly impressed, shared a screenshot of the response with the overlay: 'wait samantha ily girl.'
In a lengthy caption attached to the carousel of images, Dorfman, 33, addressed the situation directly.
"Objectively, I know I'm not 'passing' and I'm 'bricky' and 'clocky' but passing hasn't been the point for me nor should it be for any trans person," she wrote.
"We are all allowed to evolve in any way that feels true and that evolution can expand and contract.
"It's always been about alignment and autonomy for my own comfort, not the comfort of others or the expectations of society."
She went on to call out the man for the 'audacity' of sending such 'blatant' messages, adding that she had spared her followers from the 'deeply misogynistic and revolting comments on our flight attendants' he had also been making.
"This does come at the cost of safety and comfort in the world, especially in America, and that's not without consequence internally and externally," she continued.
She closed the post by giving Samantha the credit she felt she deserved.
"And why post, you may wonder? Because I can and this man is an alt-right vampire AND because Samantha deserves her flowers."
It isn't the first time Dorfman has spoken out about transphobia she has experienced while travelling.
In December 2023, she publicly confronted Delta Air Lines staff at LaGuardia Airport after she said she had been intentionally misgendered by gate agents.
In a now-deleted TikTok video, the actress challenged a worker who used the wrong pronoun for her multiple times, calling it a 'human rights violation.'
That incident drew a mixed response from the public at the time.
The actress, who came out as a transgender woman in a 2021 cover interview with TIME, has been candid about both the visibility and the cost of being publicly trans.
"It's funny to think about coming out, because I haven't gone anywhere," she told the magazine.
"I view today as a reintroduction to me as a woman, having made a transition medically."
Dorfman's post quickly racked up celebrity support, with friends and fans rallying in the comments.
Actress Amanda Seyfried wrote: "Scared and dumb, all of 'em 'cept Sam."
The King of Staten Island actress Pauline Chalamet added: "Whaaaat. The f**k. I love you, Tommy."
Dorfman has not named the man, and as of Saturday morning, neither the airline involved nor any representative for him had publicly commented on the post.
For Dorfman, the decision to share what happened seems to have been less about him personally and more about the wider point.
As she put it in her caption: "Because I can."
