California Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman faces a whirlwind of controversy after photos went viral that show the 71-year-old Democrat looking at pornographic images on his iPad during a public plane flight.
Photos posted to X on Friday showed Sherman staring at his tablet with his mouth open while scrolling through suggestive images.
Take a look —
I’m 16, and even I know there are two places you keep your screen private: school and airplanes.
Meanwhile Brad Sherman, a grown man and a sitting Congressman, is openly scrolling thirst traps at 30,000 feet like it’s nothing.
These are the people lecturing my generation about… pic.twitter.com/ViDrEUkVOc
— Hunter Freitas (@freitashunter_) November 15, 2025
Sherman denied looking at pornography in public – and instead blamed Elon Musk for his dirty viewing habits.
“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,” a spokesperson for Sherman said.
“This was on Twitter. These pictures came up on ‘For You.’ I must’ve looked at more than 1,000 posts” during the flight, Sherman said.
However, Sherman later admitted he was looking at the images.
“If I see a picture of a woman, might I look at it longer than a sunset? Yeah,” he said. “If you have to fly across the country, you look at a lot of stuff on your tablet.”
X’s “For You” page gives users content based on their browsing habits and interactions.
Sherman has represented California’s 32nd congressional district, which includes parts of the San Fernando Valley and Simi Hills, since 1997.