If easyJet knew in advance do you not think the ground staff would of not let a few people check in, or stop pax at the gate? Plus people often check-in bags that are over weight. Personally I would of had a few hold bags offloaded and flown on the next flight and taxi them to pax.
One thing easyJet doesn't do is lie to its pax, you might want to look at other airlines for that.
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