Travelling from Brisbane to Sydney on November 16, Black Eyed Peas musician will.i.am began Tweeting about bad service he was receiving from a flight attendant during his Qantas flight.
“I don’t want to believe she racist”, the artist wrote, “But she has clearly aimed all her frustrations only at the people of colour.”
The incident ensued when will.i.am was instructed, along with the rest of the flight members, to put his computer away but didn’t follow instructions quickly enough. The artist, who was wearing noise-cancelling headphones at the time, followed up with a Tweet that while he understood her perspective, he believed her reaction to be “overly aggressive”.
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
Upon landing in Sydney, the singer disembarked only to find a fleet of police officers waiting for him at the airport. Though the police let him go without incident, the rapper was understandably upset by the reaction of the airline and this particular attendant.
“I am the coolest traveller,” he told News.com.au. “I don’t ask for much. I try to stay out of their way. I come on the plane to go to sleep or I go to work.”
While only those who witnessed the incident can weigh in on the reaction of the flight attendant, Australian singers The Veronicas have also claimed to have been involved in an incident with the same flight attendant on a previous occasion.
Despite the frustration the artist felt with the situation, he has Tweeted that he wishes “no harm” to the Qantas employee but rather hopes that this can serve as a lesson in the future.