On Saturday, the crooner, Bebe Rexha, 34, whose family is of Albanian and North Macedonian descent, posted a video of herself crying to her Instagram story, explaining why she allegedly couldn’t board her Lufthansa flight, according to multiple reports.
The Singer-songwriter took to Instagram to share how she was “threatened” by the staff at Lufthansa Airlines for speaking Albanian. “I believe this to be a hate crime because I am Albanian,” the pop star declared.
In her Instagram story, Bebe Rexha tearfully recalled how she spoke in her mother tongue as a friendly attempt to connect with a security agent she thought was Albanian.
“I spoke to him in Albanian asking where to get my ticket and now he is banning me from the flight,” the 34-year-old singer recounted. “He would not let me take his name. He continued to mentally abuse me to make me feel like he was more powerful than he was,” she added.
She also noted how no staff in the airline stood up for her or defended her. “Not one of the women at Lufthansa stepped in or said something,” Rexha said. “He would not give me his name. But I just found out he works for ATSG a service company document control hired by Lufthansa.” said the singer.
Bebe Rexha implored the airline to do a full investigation into the incident as well as the identity of the man who harassed her. “An ‘I’m sorry’ is not gonna cut it this time,” she added.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Lufthansa released a statement to CNN to assure the public that they are already “conducting an internal review on the matter.”
“As an international airline, we connect people and countries around the globe. We do not tolerate any discriminatory behavior of any kind,” said the spokesperson.
In a follow up-post on Saturday, Rexha wrote that Lufthansa reached out to her following the incident.
“But I urge them to do a full investigation on finding out who this man who was abusing his power is,” she added in her Instagram stories. “An ‘I’m sorry’ is not gonna cut it this time.”
It’s unclear if Rexha was able to board a different flight. The musician was traveling to the U.S. from the Munich International Airport in Germany, according to the Post.
In July 2023, Rexha was hit in the face by a cellphone that was thrown from the crowd onto the stage during her New York City concert. She was transported to the hospital to treat her injuries.
Rexha later posted an update on TikTok showing her with a bruised eye and bandages on her eyebrow. “Im okay you guys 💖,” she captioned her post.
