Will.i.am claims ‘racist’ flight attendant called police after he missed announcement to put laptop away

Get Nadine White's Race Report newsletter for a fresh perspective on the week's news Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Get our free newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Will.i.am has claimed a “racist” flight attendant called the police on him after he didn’t hear an announcement to put his laptop away before take-off. But she has clearly aimed all her frustrations only at the people of colour.” Will.i.am then shared a photo of a police officer who had met him when he landed, adding: ‘@Qantas I was making music wearing noise cancelling headphones on the plane… I’m sorry I couldn’t hear the P.A…I complied when she’s tapped me on the shoulder to put my laptop away… It’s sad that your #RacistFlightAttendant sent the police…” He continued: “This is how your greeted when you land from Brisbane to Sydney flying @qantas with a #RacistFlightattendant. I put away my laptop when she asked…why would she feel threatened by me to call the police?” While many of Will.i.am’s followers have expressed their support, he also received criticism for tweeting the badge number and name of the officer who met him at the airport, along with the name of the flight attendant he accused of racism, to his 12 million followers. He defended himself, tweeting: “If I did something wrong.or if I was the slightest bit rude to a FAN or a journalist during work, I would be publicly named.this is what Twitter is for.we are supposed to call out wrong doings so we can have a safer more compassionate world.” Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up A Qantas spokesman told The Independent: “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.