Eugenio Derbez Has Important Question for Fans After Being ‘Detained’ at Airport With a Watermelon
Mexican actor Eugenio Derbez, 62, is no stranger to hilarious airport situations — such as when a woman next to him on a flight didn’t recognize him and proceeded to make a TikTok-viral moment out of it. However, this time around, Derbez’s funny airport conundrum doesn’t involve a fan… just a watermelon.
The laugh-out-loud “Overboard” actor took to Instagram to share his sticky airport situation: “They detained the watermelon… and me.” Wait, what?
Derbez explained how watermelon-carver-extraordinaire Nadia “Lady Sandía” Dominguez gifted him a sandía with his face on it in New York City.
As is typical with Lady Sandía’s artwork, the watermelon is a scarily accurate portrayal of the actor. It’s so good, Derbez had to keep it. Even if it meant getting “detained” by airport security on his way to Los Angeles.
Lady Sandía gave Derbez his carved watermelon, prompting the actor to call it “a work of art”
Last week, watermelon carver to the stars Dominguez posted on Instagram how happy she was to present one of her creations to Derbez.
Lady Sandía, who has given her watermelon tributes to stars like Maluma, Becky G, Christian Nodal, and more, could barely hold in her excitement about meeting Derbez. “So excited,” she wrote. “I’m still in shock about meeting Eugenio Derbez. Very, very happy!”
“He is one of my favorite actors since I was a little girl,” she told her followers. “Thank you, thank you for making us smile so much with your shows.”
“I hope you liked the watermelon,” she also wrote directly to the actor. “[Made] with a lot of care and respect.” You can see Dominguez give Derbez his special watermelon here:
Derbez not only accepted the watermelon — but also posted about the gift on his Instagram Stories. He told his followers, “Here in New York, leaving an event, I met a woman who gave me this.”
Showing the note attached to the sandía, he read out loud: “Hello, Eugenio. My name is Nadia Dominguez. I made this watermelon with a lot of care and respect. I hope it brings a smile to your face.”
Showing his IG followers the watermelon carved with his face on it, the actor described, “Look at the level of hard work and the details. It’s a work of art.”
“Look at this marvel. Wow. Thank you so much, Nadia Dominguez, Lady Sandía.”
However, Derbez found himself in a complicated situation once he got to the airport with his watermelon
As the “Instructions Not Included” actor hilariously explained on Instagram Stories, he was sort of “detained” in the airport because of his watermelon.
“As you can see, I’m in the airport in New York and they just detained me,” he told followers. “Well, they didn’t detain me. They’re making me wait while they check my luggage because they found my watermelon.”
“The watermelon that Lady Sandía gave me on the street.” LOL. Why do these kinds of things only happen to Eugenio Derbez? We’re dying.
Later, the Villa Milpa Alta, Mexico-born star, explained that he initially wanted to give the carved watermelon to a fan — not bring it with him on a plane.
“I didn’t know what to do with it,” he recalled. “So I asked myself, “What do I do? Do I take it to Los Angeles? It’ll be hilarious to take a watermelon through the airport.”
Continuing, “Or do I give it to a fan in New York and autograph it?” While Derbez did autograph it, he didn’t have time to give it to a fan… so it went into his suitcase.
“I took it with me. And I’m here in security,” he described. “They detained the watermelon… and me,” he laughed. “I wonder if I’ll miss my flight because of Lady Sandía.”
Luckily, Derbez passed security with his watermelon carving — we’re in the clear. However, he had a very important question to ask his fans. How do you preserve such a special watermelon to keep it from rotting?
“I have a question for all of you,” the actor and the comedian told his Instagram followers. “What do I do with the watermelon?”
“It’s really beautiful. But I don’t know what to do. Do I eat it? Do I place it with my trophies?” he asked. “If I eat it, I’m scared to chop it… I’ll be chopping my face.” We’re rolling on the floor.
The actor later asked what would happen if he kept the watermelon as decor next to his trophies. “Will it rot?” he asked. “Will it get full of flies?”
“What if one day I woke up to a bunch of cockroaches? Ants?” he continued to ask. “I don’t know what to do with this watermelon.”
The hilarious situation aside, Derbez truly did bring up a good point. What do celebrities do with these special carved watermelons after a while? The actor even went so far to make up the hashtag, #QueHagoConLaSandía, and we’re officially deceased.
By the end, the actor posted a video of the watermelon safe and sound in his refrigerator… for now. But as one helpful Instagram user recommended, he can “Take off the carved part and submerge it in resin or paraffin” to preserve it.
Another took an easier route: “Take a photo with the watermelon and keep the photo.” That works, too!
While Dominguez has not yet commented on what to do with the special watermelons, she wrote on Instagram about Derbez’s hilarious situation. “It was a long journey but [the watermelon] arrived to its destination,” she described. “Like always, the great actor and producer is giving us moments of joy.”
