While attempting to board her flight at the Munich Airport, Bebe Rexha claimed she was the victim of a “hate crime.” On Saturday, according to Entertainment Weekly, the pop star posted a series of teary selfie videos to her Instagram story, recounting the “emotionally drain[ing]” incident. Through sobs, Rexha said she had a jarring interaction with a Lufthansa Airlines security agent, during which she tried to speak Albanian to him. “I’ve been threatened because I thought the security agent was Albanian,” Rexha captioned the video. “I spoke to him in Albanian, asking where to get my ticket, and now he is banning me from the flight.”
“I believe this to be a hate crime because I am Albanian. He would not let me take his name. He continued to mentally abuse me to make me feel like he was more powerful then [sic] he was,” she continued. “Not one of the women at @Lufthansa stepped in or said something. He would not give me his name, but I just found out he works for ATSG, a service company document control hired by Lufthansa.”
In a statement to EW, a spokesperson for Lufthansa confirmed Sunday that the airline had contacted Rexha directly “to understand the situation” and had begun an internal review. “As an international airline, we connect people and countries around the globe. Our guests and employees come from all over the world,” the statement read. “Diversity and equal opportunity are core values for our company and our corporate culture. We do not tolerate any discriminatory behavior of any kind.”
While Rexha confirmed in a separate Instagram story that she made it home safely, the singer made clear that she was not yet satisfied with the airline’s response. “I have never been so emotionally drained,” she wrote. “@Lufthansa has direct-messaged me, but I urge them to do a full investigation on finding out who this man who was abusing his power is. An ‘I’m sorry’ is not gonna cut it this time.”
The Cut has reached out to both Rexha and Lufthansa Airlines for additional comment, and will update this post if we hear back.
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