Lufthansa contacts Bebe Rexha after singer claims worker ‘mentally abused’ her

Updated

Lufthansa has contacted singer Bebe Rexha after she claimed she was “mentally abused” by a member of the airline’s staff for being Albanian.

In a series of Instagram posts, the 34-year-old alleged she was “threatened” when speaking to a member of staff at Munich airport, who she thought was from Albania, in Albanian.

She also claimed the male member of staff was trying to ban her from the flight. It is not known whether Rexha was allowed to fly.

In one post she said: “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.”

In response to her posts, the airline says it will now try to “understand the situation” and added it does not “tolerate discriminatory behaviour of any kind”.

Bebe Rexha posing on red carpet, wearing a blue dress with rises above her head
Bebe Rexha said the man attempted to stop her flying with the airline (Ian West/PA)

A spokesperson for Lufthansa said: “We reached out to Bebe Rexha and are in direct contact with her to understand the situation.

“As an international airline, we connect people and countries around the globe. 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 behaviour of any kind.”

The Meant To Be singer confirmed she had been contacted by the airline in a later post.

She added: “I have never been so emotionally drained, Lufthansa has direct messaged me, but I urge them to do a full investigation on finding out who this man who was abusing his power is.”

Rexha began her career writing songs for the likes of Eminem, Selena Gomez and Nick Jonas, before releasing her debut solo album, Expectations, in 2018.

She has gone on to have four UK top 10 singles and one UK top 40 album.

The singer was born in New York City to Albanian parents.

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