Hip hop star Will.i.am has claimed he was subjected to racist treatment on a Qantas flight to Sydney.
The songwriter produced a series of tweets while he was still on the plane, claiming to his millions of followers that he had been mistreated by an ‘overly aggressive flight attendant’.
I don’t want to believe she racist. But she has clearly aimed all her frustrations only at the people of colour, he wrote.
He claimed the incident happened when he had not heard announcements over the PA because he was wearing noise cancelling headphones.
He said he was confronted by the flight attendant when he did not put away his laptop fast enough.
A spokesperson for the airline said: There was a misunderstanding on board, which seems to have been exacerbated by Will.i.am wearing noise cancelling headphones and not being able to hear instructions from crew. We completely reject the suggestion this had anything to do with race. We’ll be following up with Will.i.am and wish him well for the rest of the tour.
I’m currently on a flight from Brisbane to Sydney.
I’m sorry to say me and my group have experienced they worse service due to a overly aggressive flight attendant…
I don’t want to believe she racist.
But she has clearly aimed all her frustrations only at the people of colour— will.i.am (@iamwill) November 16, 2019
I was intimidated by 5 police officers when I landed…for what? ??♂️ I put away my laptop when she asked…why would she feel threatened by me to call the police? What did I do wrong? I wasn’t out of hand.. I was polite & did what she asked… now you’re asking me to take abuse? https://t.co/1390ThymY3
— will.i.am (@iamwill) November 16, 2019
Hip hop star https://t.co/9Q8Zakk56T has described his racist treatment on a Qantas flight as “like a police state” after the airline called police to greet him on arrival at Sydney airport. LISTEN TO OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE BLACK EYED PEAS FRONTMAN ??? pic.twitter.com/FRaHLiKA3t
— The Daily Telegraph (@dailytelegraph) November 16, 2019
