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(CNN) - Will.i.am claimed that he and his team were victims of a racist incident, when a misunderstanding led a flight attendant to call the police for the musician.
The leader of Black Eyed Peas went to Twitter to express his frustration and said he was on a flight from the Qantas airline from Brisbane to Sydney, in Australia, when the incident occurred.
The singer wore headphones with noise cancellation when the usual announcement was made to store laptops and other electronic devices. Without being able to hear the announcement, the musician said on Twitter that he left his computer outside.
Will.i.am
Will.i.am said he put away his laptop when the flight attendant asked for it directly, but said the assistant was "more than rude" and even called the police, who was waiting for him when they landed.
"I complied quickly and courteously, only to be received by the police," Will.i.am wrote later. "I think I was a target."
After qualifying her with the label #RacistFlightattendant (racist flight attendant), Will.i.am said the assistant "clearly targeted all her frustrations only to people of color."
This is how your greeted when you land from Brisbane to Sydney flying @qantas with a #RacistFlightattendant named Lorraine Marshall ... She sent the police after me bacause I couldn't hear the PA while making beats on the plane wearing noise canceling headphones ... pic. twitter.com/9xT7WqTUoO
- will.i.am (@iamwill) November 16, 2019
The singer gave the name of the flight attendant and posted a picture of her.
In a statement sent by email to CNN, the airline said the incident had nothing to do with the race.
"There was a misunderstanding on board, which seems to have been exacerbated by will.i.am when using headphones with noise cancellation and not being able to listen to the instructions of the crew," said the Australian airline. “We completely reject the suggestion that this had something to do with race. We will keep in touch with will.i.am and wish him the best for the rest of the tour. ”
The police then let the musician go, he said.
When other Twitter users pointed out that the flight attendant was being abused on the internet, the singer urged his 12.8 million followers on Twitter not to participate in that behavior.
"Please, don't send Hate ... This kind of disrespect and insults are not necessary ... I don't support abuse and attacks like this ... I hope everyone can be more compassionate and understanding with each other. … Because it was the lack of compassion that caused this, ”he wrote.
Black Eyed Peas are in Australia as part of their 2019-20 world tour.
Will.I. Am
