Bebe Rexha Says She Was ‘Threatened’ by Airport Security and Banned from Flight in Germany After Speaking Albanian
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Rexha shared a tearful message on her Instagram Stories on Aug. 17, saying she was the victim of a “hate crime”
Bebe Rexha is alleging that 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, Aug. 17, claiming she was “threatened” and banned from a Lufthansa flight at Germany’s Munich Airport after she spoke to a “security agent” in Albanian.
Rexha’s revelation came alongside a video of her crying in the airport, in which she told fans “the supervisor” of the flight was threatening her.
“I’ve been threatened because I thought the security agent was Albanian,” she wrote over the clip. “I spoke to him in Albanian asking where to get my ticket and now he is banning me from the flight.”
The pop star elaborated in a follow-up Instagram Stories post that she believed “this to be a hate crime because I am Albanian.”
“He would not 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. Not one of the women at @Lufthansa stepped in or said something. He would not give me his name. But I just found out he works for ATSG a service company document control hired by Lufthansa.”
In a statement provided to PEOPLE on Sunday, a spokesperson for Lufthansa said the airline “contacted Bebe Rexha directly yesterday to understand the situation and are conducting an internal review on the matter.”
“As an international airline, we connect people and countries around the globe,” the statement continued. “Our guests and employees come from all over the world. Diversity and equal opportunity are core values for our company and our corporate culture. We do not tolerate any discriminatory behavior of any kind.”
PEOPLE also reached out to Munich Airport for comment on Sunday, Aug. 18, but did not immediately hear back.