Eric André criticises Melbourne Airport and says he was ‘racially profiled’

Comedian Eric André is speaking out after feeling “humiliated” by his experience at an Australian airport, where he claims staff there acted unethically against “black, brown and indigenous people.”

In a video shared on Instagram on Monday, the Emmy-nominated host of The Eric Andre Show said he had just completed a 25-hour trip from New York City to Brisbane, with stops in Los Angeles and Melbourne, which was made even more difficult by his experience at Melbourne Airport.

“I was arrested,” André told his followers. “I was pulled out of a lineup and put in a special queue in Melbourne where I was thoroughly sniffed by a dog.”

He continued with a warning to POC viewers: “This is one of the many times I have been racially discriminated against at the airport. So this is a message to all Black, Brown and Indigenous people travelling through Melbourne today, particularly if you are travelling through Qantas International at Terminal 2: please be careful. They are frisking Black, Brown and Indigenous people.”

André then asked fans who had information to come forward with the name of the program and the officials responsible for the dogs. He also asked for help from any Australian viewers who could put him in touch with a discrimination lawyer in the country and asked anyone who wanted to hire him for future work in Australia to arrange a security escort or, failing that, to fly him in via another airport.

“I don’t feel safe at Melbourne Airport. I don’t want to be humiliated or racially discriminated against at these airports anymore,” said André. “I don’t want to cut my hair and wear a three-piece suit to be treated like a first-class citizen. I shouldn’t feel like I’m not accepted when I enter a country.”

He added: “Shame on the people at Melbourne Airport for allowing this stupid procedure to take place. I doubt it makes anyone in Melbourne or Australia safer.”

In the video, André also questions the success rate of the dog screening program, saying that such measures have “nothing to do with safety” and “everything to do with racial harassment.” He compared the practice to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s controversial “stop-and-frisk” program, arguing that “it provides a less safe experience for Black, brown and Indigenous passengers.”

In a statement to NBC News, an airport spokesperson said: “Melbourne Airport does not tolerate racism in any form. We welcome all passengers to Melbourne and expect everyone to be treated equally.”

They further claimed that the Australian Border Force (ABF) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) have since contacted André to respond to his complaints.

Weekly entertainment has contacted Melbourne Airport, Qantas Airlines and André for further comment.

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This isn’t the first time André has experienced discrimination while traveling. Two years ago, he and fellow comedian Clayton English filed a lawsuit claiming a policing program at Atlanta’s airport violated their constitutional rights by racially discriminating and illegally stopping them. The duo said they were singled out and questioned about drugs in front of other passengers, an interaction André described as “dehumanizing and demoralizing,” according to the Associated Press. The lawsuit was dismissed, and in January André and English filed an appeal.

“I have the means to draw national and international attention to this incident,” André said at the time. “This is not an isolated case.”