Third musician is dragged in Qantas racism row

A passenger who was on the same Qantas flight as will.i.am has backed up the rapper’s claims of racism, alleging a third black musician was singled out in the row. 

The airline came under fire this week after the Black Eyed Peas frontman accused a female attendant of being ‘racist’ and ‘aggressive’ towards him during a flight to Sydney on Saturday.  

Those claims were followed by allegations on Monday from Eric Smith, a bassist for Janet Jackson, who said Qantas didn’t allow him to take his instrument aboard a separate flight this weekend, but let ‘white passengers’ do so with no issue.

50 Cent’s guitarist, Travis Ferguson, has also been embroiled in the controversy as a passenger claimed he witnessed a flight attendant berate the musician after he tried to board with his guitar.    

The artists had been flying to Homebush to perform at a concert, featuring Janet Jackson, 50 Cent and will.i.am.  

According to the witness, the female employee told Ferguson he had to get off the plane to check his instrument instead. 

Ferguson then reportedly left the plane, only to return with his guitar, leading to a verbal altercation between him and the staff.  

The controversy began when a flight attendant told 50 Cent’s guitarist Travis Ferguson (pictured) he’d have to check his instrument instead of taking it on board

will.i.am (pictured leaving Sydney Airport on Sunday) took to Twitter on Saturday saying he had been a victim of racially-motivated abuse after the employee called AFP officers on board after asking him to stow away his laptop

will.i.am (pictured leaving Sydney Airport on Sunday) took to Twitter on Saturday saying he had been a victim of racially-motivated abuse after the employee called AFP officers on board after asking him to stow away his laptop

‘They didn’t say any racist words, but they only treated the black people that way,’ the passenger told the Daily Telegraph. 

A passenger’s girlfriend named only as Sam, recounted his version of events on Kyle & Jackie O on Tuesday, because he did not want to be identified.

‘He had texted me when he was on the flight and he said, “you will not believe what these Qantas flight attendants are doing,” so he got home super shocked,’ she said. 

Ferguson reportedly offered to buy a spare seat for his instrument, but was still met with resistance by the flight attendant who instructed to go down to the bag checking area.  

‘He was completely calm, he was like “yeah, you know what, ‘the rules are rules’, whatever.” [He] got back off the flight, went down to see the check in guys, they send him back with the guitar and say, “no it’s fine.”‘

The passenger said Ferguson suggested he could put his guitar in the overhead compartment, which reportedly fit with no issue. 

But the flight attendant allegedly responded sternly saying: ‘It cannot fit in there, it is not going in there, it’s going down the back.’  

‘Everyone was sort of like “Wow, I can’t believe this is actually happening.” The way she was speaking to him was really shocking,’ Sam said. 

She said the situation then escalated when the flight attendant went over to first class, where will.i.am and his crew had been seated, and began ‘raising her voice.’ 

will.i.am had claimed the woman became ‘rude’ and ‘out of control’ because he was wearing noise cancelling headphones and had his laptop open during a safety demonstration. 

The witness said a member of the group then started recording the incident, further escalating the row.  

Where is the love? Some were quick argue the woman was only doing her job and it was not right to name and shame her to his millions of followers

Where is the love? Some were quick argue the woman was only doing her job and it was not right to name and shame her to his millions of followers

He later asked his followers not to send 'hate' saying 'a lack of compassion' was the root of the problem.

He later asked his followers not to send ‘hate’ saying ‘a lack of compassion’ was the root of the problem.

Singer will.i.am, who's real name is William Adam launched into a Twitter rant (pictured) after he believed he was abused by Qantas flight attendant because of his race

Singer will.i.am, who’s real name is William Adam launched into a Twitter rant (pictured) after he believed he was abused by Qantas flight attendant because of his race

‘One of the other Qantas guys came on the flight and said, “delete that video, this plane is not leaving until you delete that video,”‘ according to the passenger. 

Sam said other passengers had been so taken aback by the staff’s behaviour, they even began to apologise the musicians. 

On Monday, Qantas rejected accusations of in-flight racism saying it would back legal action against the Black Eyed Peas frontman. 

A spokesman for the Australian flag carrier said Qantas ‘completely’ rejected the suggestion that race was a factor in the incident.

‘There was a misunderstanding on board, which seems to have been exacerbated by will.i.am wearing noise-cancelling headphones and not being able to hear instructions from crew,’ he said.

Janet Jackson's bassist Eric Smith (left) said he was trying to board a flight from Brisbane to Sydney with his instrument on Saturday morning when he was stopped by staff

Janet Jackson’s bassist Eric Smith (left) said he was trying to board a flight from Brisbane to Sydney with his instrument on Saturday morning when he was stopped by staff

He shared photos showing another guitar stored in the overheard compartment

He said he lost his window seat in the process

He shared photos showing another guitar stored in the overheard compartment (left)

Smith, who said the group has flown with Qantas 'every single flight', said he remained calm despite his frustration and tried to reason with the employee

Smith, who said the group has flown with Qantas ‘every single flight’, said he remained calm despite his frustration and tried to reason with the employee

The airline initially said over the weekend that it would be ‘following up with will.i.am and wish him well for the rest of the tour’.

But on Monday a spokesman said the airline would be willing to support legal action against the star.

‘Absent a retraction, and if the crew member wanted to take the matter further, we’d certainly be willing to provide legal support for them to do this,’ he said.

Australia has extremely strict defamation laws and courts routinely rule in favour of those claiming reputational damage.

Meanwhile, Janet Jackson’s bassist Eric Smith also accused Qantas of racism, after the airline allegedly prohibited him from taking his guitar on board a separate flight but allowed ‘white passengers’ to take instruments with no issue, 

He later shared photos on Twitter of another guitar case stowed away in the overheard compartments.

When he asked why he wasn’t allowed to take his guitar as well, he claimed the attendant ‘basically told me that wasn’t my concern.’

‘He said it’s at the flight attendant’s discretion and the flight attendant said I couldn’t bring my instrument on.’ 

In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, Qantas said the crew’s suggestion for Smith to check the instrument was standard procedure.

‘When musicians bring oversize instruments onboard like guitars, our crew are required to ensure that this has been pre-arranged. So there’s nothing out of the ordinary about our crew checking that this has been done. We have not received a formal complaint from Mr Smith about this flight,’ a spokesperson said.

will.i.am took to Twitter to address the incident at the time, while releasing the flight attendant’s full name to his 13 million Twitter followers. 

He later asked his followers not to send ‘hate’ saying ‘a lack of compassion’ was the root of the problem. 

When asked in the interview if it was fair for will.i.am to publicly identify the employee, Smith replied: ‘absolutely.’  

On Monday, the Flight Attendants Association of Australia defended the employee saying the woman was following safety protocols and should not be ‘shamed’ for doing her job. 

‘As employees, crew are bound to follow their employer’s direction. It seems that in doing this, crew are being vilified and ­attacked on ­social media,’ FAAA Secretary Teri O’ Toole told The Australian.  

‘It seems like a pretty simple request and it’s there to protect passengers.

‘No one should be named and shamed for doing their job and it seems the welfare of the crew ­involved is not being considered by the celebrities involved.’ 

A staff memo obtained by The Daily Telegraph, revealed Qantas is now asking the rapper to retract his comments.

‘The tweets claimed poor treatment from crew and discrimination on the basis of race. We replied that there appeared to be a misunderstanding on board that was exacerbated by the fact will.i.am was wearing noise cancelling headphones,’ the memo states.

‘We rejected claims of racism and have since asked will.i.am for a retraction of that claim. We fully support our crew and the great work they do ensuring safety of all those on board.’ 

 

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