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Bebe Rexha says she has been banned from boarding her Lufthansa flight on August 17, 2024.
Pop star Bebe Rexha believes she was the victim of a hate crime after she was denied entry to her Lufthansa flight, according to videos she posted to her Instagram stories on August 17, 2024. Rexha, who mentored contestants during the 20th season of “American Idol,” shared two videos of herself sobbing and wiping off her smeared eye makeup, visibly shaken by the incident.
According to TMZ, Rexha was at Munich International Airport in Germany. It is not clear where she was flying to, but she stated in her stories that she was “threatened” and believes she was banned from the flight because she spoke to a security officer in Albanian.
“I believe this is a hate crime because I am Albanian,” she wrote in one of her stories.
Bebe Rexha accuses airline security officer of psychological abuse
In her first posted video, Rexha wiped tears from her eyes as she said in a trembling voice: “The supervisor on the flight (for) Lufthansa is threatening me.”
In a caption above the video, Rexha tagged the airline, writing: “I was threatened because I thought the security guard was Albanian. I spoke to him in Albanian and asked where to get my ticket and now he is banning me from boarding the flight.”
After posting another video of herself continuing to cry with her passport in hand, Rexha added a text-only story further detailing her predicament.
“I believe this is a hate crime because I am Albanian,” she wrote. “He wouldn’t let me tell him his name. He continued to abuse me psychologically to make me feel more powerful than him. None of the women at @Lufthansa intervened or said anything. He wouldn’t tell me his name. But I just found out he works for ATSG, a document control service company contracted by Lufthansa.”
Rexha then shared a story posted by a fan account dedicated to her, which read: “@lufthansa please make sure @beberexha gets home safely. @munich_airport please investigate the male police officer who threatened a woman, @beberexha, for speaking Albanian, take down your cameras.”
According to the Balkan Transitional Justice program, there is a long history of cultural tensions between the “ethnic Macedonian majority and the country’s second largest community, ethnic Albanians.”
A Lufthansa spokesperson told TMZ that they were “in direct contact with Bebe” to investigate the situation and that “diversity and equal opportunities are core values of their company.”
Bebe Rexha visited her father’s homeland in July
Although Rexha was born in the United States, her parents are of Albanian descent. In an undated TikTok video, she explains in an interview: “My father is from Dibra in Macedonia. My mother’s grandparents are from Gostivar because we have so many, like darsmas and so… a lot of them, so we always visit them.”
According to the BBC, Rexha’s father emigrated to the United States when she was 21. In 2018, the singer told the show that she grew up in a “very strict” household. “Her mother and father worked really hard, but they never let me know that we didn’t have any money.”
One of many successful artists of Albanian descent, including Rita Ora and Dua Lipa, Rexha told the BBC: “There’s something over there in the water. We are strong. We are built like horses and can withstand anything.”
But her parents initially looked down on her music career, she told the BBC, explaining: “Music was seen as something bad. My father said: ‘It’s the devil’s job.'”
On July 29, Rexha shared on Instagram that she visited Macedonia, a country in the Balkans that borders Albania.
“After 12 years, I returned to my father’s hometown in Diber, Macedonia,” she wrote. “Reconnecting with my roots and family was deeply emotional. Visiting my grandfather’s grave was especially meaningful as I was unable to make it to his funeral in time while on tour. Family means everything to me and this visit reminded me of the importance of our bonds. ❤️”
When some commentators asked why she considered herself Albanian when her family actually came from nearby Macedonia, Rexha wrote: “Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro Presheva – to me they are all my ALBANIA.”
In a July 31 post, Rexha shared video footage of her singing opera and said she was inspired by her childhood, made famous by Albanian singer Inva Mula, while sitting in a restaurant on her journey.
Liv Lane is an entertainment writer who has covered the Hallmark Channel, HGTV, American Idol and The Voice for Heavy. She lives in Minneapolis and has three decades of experience as a local and national radio host, columnist and publicist. Over the years, she has interviewed and worked with a variety of celebrities, from Deepak Chopra to Lil Nas X. More about Liv Lane
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