Congressman Sherman denies he was intentionally looking at pornography on flight

California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman is pushing back against online accusations that he was viewing pornography during a flight after a set of viral photographs circulated showing him staring at a tablet with what appeared to be explicit photos.

Late in the week, images emerged on the social-media platform X (formerly Twitter) showing Sherman, 71, aboard a flight, seemingly scrolling through images of women in their underwear. The post quickly gained traction — one version reportedly amassed more than 12 million views. 

A caption attached to the post read: “Why did California Congressman Brad Sherman feel it was appropriate to look at porn on his iPad during a flight today?” 

Sherman denies that he was intentionally looking at pornography. According to his office, the images appeared as part of the platform’s “For You” algorithm feed, and Sherman claims he had not actively searched for explicit content. His spokesperson stated:

“This was nothing more than scrolling through Twitter, and, unfortunately, Elon Musk has ruined the Twitter algorithm to give people content that they don’t ask for or subscribe to.” 

When interviewed by Punchbowl News, Sherman said the images popped up on his feed mid-flight:

“These pictures came up on ‘For You’… If you have to fly across the country, you look at a lot of stuff on your tablet.” 

Asked whether the content was appropriate in the flight setting, Sherman responded:

“Is it pornography? I don’t think Elon Musk thinks so. Is it appropriate? No.”