Racist British Airways flight attendant duo fired for slant-eyed jibe, mocking Chinese accents of passengers
- Female flight attendants laughed and joked in offensive video
- Airline sacks pair, says they take all acts of racism ‘very seriously’
Two British Airways flight attendants have been fired after mocking the accent of Chinese passengers and making racist slant-eye gestures in a viral video.
The clip went viral after it was posted on TikTok by @jadenguyen_2 on March 16, triggering a backlash on mainland social media.
It shows a white woman who was later confirmed to be British Airways flight attendant Holly Walton, trying to mimic a Chinese accent to say “give me wine” while making slant-eyes gestures.
Another woman who filmed the video and was having a laugh with her turned out to be her colleague, Lauren Bray.
Bray reportedly filmed the video while the pair were enjoying wine at a hotel in Antigua, during the layover following a flight from London.
Their colleagues who reacted to the video with anger said they were mimicking a Chinese family who spoke little English and tried hard to express themselves on her flight, according to British tabloid The Sun.
The account was suspended after the video went viral.
A fellow British Airways crew member called them “shocking and dumb”, “to have such racist thoughts, to then film them and share it with the world”.
A spokesperson from the airline told Business Insider that they have sacked the pair: “All forms of racism are completely unacceptable, we take allegations of this nature very seriously.”
Walton had worked for the airline for 10 years and Bray six years, according to the news site.
On mainland social media, the video has triggered public fury.
“How shallow and disgraceful is she, laughing at people who cannot speak very well a language that is not their mother tongue?” said one person on Weibo.
“What is wrong with Chinese people having a Chinese accent?” said another.
A third applauded British Airways’ “prompt and appropriate reaction” to the incident.
The slant-eyes pose is considered a mocking of Asian people’s appearance and highly offensive.
Many, including celebrities and famous brands, have got into trouble for making the pose.
Offenders include American singer Miley Cyrus, the whole Spanish women’s tennis team who made the pose during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and more recently, Dior.
The French luxury fashion house was accused of racism after posting an Instagram photo featuring a model pulling her eye. It removed the photo after an online backlash.
It is not the first time flight attendants have been sacked for inappropriate behaviour.
In 2023, Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific Airways fired three cabin crew members, after they were accused of mocking non-English speakers from China who asked for “carpet” while requesting blankets.
They were also heard remarking on people who do not understand Cantonese as “not being able to understand human language”.
