SYDNEY, Australia — Black Eyed Peas musician will.i.am has accused a flight attendant from Australia’s national carrier Qantas of being racist and rude to him on a flight.
The musician said he was met by police at Sydney Airport on Saturday after an incident with an “overly aggressive flight attendant” who he says was upset with him because he couldn’t hear her through his noise-cancelling headphones.
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
He tweeted a photo of a police officer and said: “This is how your greeted when you land from Brisbane to Sydney flying @qantas with a #RacistFlightattendant.” He then named the flight attendant.
Qantas said in a statement it rejected the allegation that the incident had anything to do with race and said it was a “misunderstanding.”
“There was a misunderstanding onboard, which seems to have been exacerbated by will.i.am wearing noise cancelling headphones and not being able to hear instructions from crew,” the airline said in a statement. “We’ll be following up with will.i.am and wish him well for the rest of the tour.”
He and the Black Eyed Peas are in Australia to perform as part of a world tour.
In a series of tweets made in response to Peter Ford, an entertainment reporter in Australia and New Zealand, will.i.am said he wasn’t the only person on the flight to be “disrespected.” Some Twitter users who said they were passengers on the flight agreed with him.
He did, however, get criticized by some who felt it was inappropriate for him to publicly name the flight attendant on his Twitter account, which has 12.8 million followers.
“I don’t regret my actions,” he said, adding in another tweet that “today I FELT discrimination…and I spoke for all the other people who are voiceless.”
This is how your greeted when you land from Brisbane to Sydney flying @qantas with a #RacistFlightattendant named Lorraine Marshall…She sent the police after me bacause I couldn’t hear the P.A while making beats on the plane wearing noise canceling headphones… pic.twitter.com/9xT7WqTUoO
— will.i.am (@iamwill) November 16, 2019
.@Qantas Your #RacistFlightattendant was beyond rude & took it to the next level by calling the police on me. thank god the other passengers testified that SHE was out of Control ???????? the police finally let me go. imagine if the police were as aggressive as Lorraine Marshall ????
— will.i.am (@iamwill) November 16, 2019
I’m sorry? Is callin the police on a passenger for not hearing he P.A due to wearing noise canceling headphones appropriate? If didn’t put away my laptop “in a rapid 2min time” I’d understand. I did comply quickly & politely, only to be greeted by police. I think I was targeted https://t.co/8WVIuMKXJa
— will.i.am (@iamwill) November 16, 2019
???????????????????????? thank you ???????????????????????? https://t.co/GK2D3aNS1Q
— 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
If I did something wrong….or if I was the slightest bit rude to a FAN or a journalist during work, I would be publicly named…this is what Twitter is for…we are supposed to call out wrong doings so we can have a safer more compassionate world https://t.co/au4ibWeqWY
— will.i.am (@iamwill) November 16, 2019
We live in 2019 & technology is advancing…they have WiFi is certain planes & noise canceling is becoming a standard…people who serve the paying public need to know that passengers have on devices that block out outside sound…sending the POLICE after them is a bit much ????????♂️ https://t.co/CZHJaMFLUE
— will.i.am (@iamwill) November 18, 2019