Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am names and shames ‘racist’ Qantas stewardess

The 44-year-old artist took to Twitter to make the accusation after Australian federal police were called on him for not putting his laptop away promptly

Qantas has now offered the stewardess involved in the row legal assistance if she decides to take the matter further

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Black Eyed Peas musician will.i.am. Photo: AP

Published: 6:57pm, 18 Nov 2019Updated: 11:09pm, 18 Nov 2019

Australia’s flagship airline, Qantas, on Monday denied that one of its flight attendants had discriminated against will.i.am and said it stood ready to offer legal assistance to the staff member after the Black Eyed Peas co-founder named her on social media.

The US singer, born William Adams, had taken a flight about 1-1/2-hours long to Sydney, Australia’s most populous city, from northeastern Brisbane to play at a concert on Saturday, but was met by Australian federal police at the arrival gate.

He said on Twitter he was racially targeted by an airline attendant, whom he identified by name, after failing to put away his laptop as the flight prepared to land, because he had put on noise-cancelling headphones to “make beats”.

Qantas, which called the incident a “misunderstanding”, said it had investigated the complaint but could not substantiate the claims and has requested the rapper to retract his statement.

“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,” a spokesman said in a statement.

A Qantas Boeing 737-800 aircraft is seen taxiing at Sydney Airport. Photo: EPA

Police confirmed they spoke to crew and passengers at the airport, but said no further action was required. “The Australian Federal Police considers this matter finalised,” they said in a statement.