Popstar Bebe Rexha has accused an airport worker at Munich Airport in Germany of an alleged ‘hate crime’ after the security agent allegedly tried to prevent her from boarding an international flight.
The 34-year-old ‘I’m Good’ singer who rose to international stardom with her David Guetta collab posted a series of emotional stories on Instagram on Saturday describing the upsetting interaction with the security worker.
Rexha, who was born in Brooklyn but whose heritage can be traced back to Albania and North Macedonia, said she felt the wrath of the security worker after she mistakenly thought he was from Albania.
Trying to strike up a friendly conversation with the worker, Rexha spoke to the security agent in Albanian but she allegedly responded by trying to bar her from boarding her flight.
The agent was employed by German flag carrier Lufthansa through a third-party contractor to carry out secondary security checks at the boarding gate. During the tense interaction, Rexha says Lufthansa gate staff simply looked on without offering her any assistance.
“I’ve been threatened because I thought the security agent was Albanian,” Rexha explained in the now expired Instagram story. Rexha added: “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,” Rexha continued.
Despite the alleged indifference of the Lufthansa staffers, Rexha was eventually allowed to board her flight, although the while encounter had clearly taken its toll on the singer and songwriter.
“I have never been so emotionally drained,” Rexha wrote after she managed to catch her flight. “@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.”
Lufthansa says it has already started an interval review to find out exactly what went down, with a spokesperson adding: “As an international airline, we connect people and countries around the globe. Our guests and employees come from all over the world.”
“Diversity and equal opportunity are core values for our company and our corporate culture. We do not tolerate any discriminatory behavior of any kind.”
In 2022, Lufthansa agreed to pay a $2.7 million settlement to resolve a discrimination lawsuit brought by nearly 130 passengers who were all booted from the same flight by airline ground staff because, it is alleged, they ‘looked’ Jewish.
Facing a major lawsuit, Lufthansa reached an out-of-court settlement, with each passenger caught up in the incident set to receive a payout of $21,000 each.
In response to accusations of antisemitism at the airline, Lufthansa decided to become the first airline in the world to adopt a more encompassing definition of antisemitism. The airline also said it was working with the American Jewish Committee to develop corporate sensitivity training sessions.
