Bebe Rexha Claims She Was Victim of ‘Hate Crime’ for Speaking Albanian at Munich Airport

August 18, 2024 E Jazz Reporter

Music

The pop star shared an emotional video about the incident on her social media.

Bebe Rexha performs on Day 1 of BottleRock Napa Valley at Napa Valley Expo on May 24, 2024 in Napa, Calif.

Dana Jacobs/FilmMagic

Bebe Rexha is claiming she was the victim of a “hate crime” after an incident at a German airport.

In a series of emotional posts on her Instagram Story on Saturday (Aug. 17), the 34-year-old pop star alleged that she was “threatened” and banned from her Lufthansa flight at Munich Airport after speaking Albanian to a security official.

“I’ve been threatened because I thought the security agent was Albanian,” Rexha captioned a video of herself sobbing. “I spoke to him in Albanian asking where to get my ticket and now he is banning me from the flight.”

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In a another post, she wrote, “I believe this to be a hate crime because I am Albanian. 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. 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.”

Rexha also reposted a request from another Instagram user asking for the singer to be brought home safely, and called for the Munich Airport to “investigate the male officer who threatened a [woman]” for speaking Albanian.

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Rexha was born in New York and is of Albanian-North Macedonian descent. The Brooklyn native’s father was born North Macedonia and her mother, who was born in the U.S., has Albanian roots as well.

A representative for Lufthansa told this publication that the airline is in contact with Rexha to get the full story. Lufthansa reportedly added that “diversity and equal opportunity are core values to their company.”

See Rexha’s emotional posts on her Instagram Story here.

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