Bebe Rexha claims she was the victim of a “hate crime.”
The “I’m Good” singer, 34, shared a tearful message with fans on her Instagram Stories on Saturday, August 17, claiming she was “threatened” and banned from a Lufthansa flight at Germany’s Munich Airport after talked to a “security agent” in Albanian.
Rexha’s revelation came alongside a video of her crying at the airport, in which she told fans that a “flight supervisor” was threatening her.
“They threatened me because I thought the insurance agent was Albanian,” she wrote alongside the clip. “I spoke to him in Albanian and asked him where to get a ticket and now he is banning me from flying.”
In a subsequent post on Instagram Stories, the pop star clarified that she believes “this is a hate crime because I’m Albanian.”
“He wouldn’t let me take his name,” Rexha wrote of the employee. “He continued to mentally abuse me to make me feel like he was more powerful [than] he was. None of the women at @Lufthansa stepped in or said anything. He wouldn’t tell me his name. But I just found out that he works for ATSG, a document control service company hired by Lufthansa.”
In a statement to PEOPLE on Sunday, a Lufthansa spokesperson said the airline “reached out directly to Bebe Rexha yesterday to understand the situation and is conducting an internal review of the matter.”
“As an international airline, we connect people and countries around the world,” the statement continued. “Our guests and employees come from all over the world. Diversity and equal opportunity are core values of our company and our corporate culture. We do not tolerate any discriminatory behavior of any kind.”
PEOPLE also reached out to Munich Airport and Air Transport Services Group, a company that goes by the acronym “ATSG,” for comment on Sunday, Aug. 18, but did not immediately hear back.
Bebe Rexha shares a statement on Instagram about Lufthansa and her experience at Munich Airport.
Bebe Rexha/Instagram
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Rexha is of Albanian-North Macedonian origin, since her father is from North Macedonia, and her mother was born in the USA with Albanian roots, Billboard writes.
The Grammy-nominated musician’s mother also shared her own messages on Instagram following Rexha’s experience in Germany. Bukrije Rexha, who goes by Bukie Rexha for short, took to her Instagram Stories to call on the airport and airline to “find an agent”, calling the behavior “discriminatory and humiliating” and adding that she “may require legal action”.
In her latest Instagram stories from Sunday afternoon, Rexha wrote that she had “never been so emotionally drained”, as she explained that the airline had “sent her a direct message”.
“But I urge them to conduct a full investigation to find out who this man is who abused his power,” Rexha wrote. “I’m sorry” won’t help this time.”
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Source: HIS Education