Jason Derulo claims ‘racial discrimination’ in altercation with American Airlines

Nickelodeon Halo Awards 2016

I haven’t had to get on a plane in years. I’m thankful for that. I drive everywhere I need to go, and I know that makes me very lucky, because all of the drama is going down at airports these days. This story is about Jason Derulo, a very popular pop star. Derulo travels a lot, and he travels with an entourage (like most pop stars). Derulo and his entourage were trying to board an American Airlines flight from Miami to LA yesterday. Derulo flies American Airlines almost exclusively, he claims. He flies so much that he has a “Concierge Key,” which is a preferred-member status thing that gives him perks like free checked bags and priority boarding. Apparently, all American Airlines saw was a group of black guys who needed to be screamed at. This is according to Derulo. This story is super-involved and I’m using People Mag’s account of it, because they spoke to Derulo.

Jason Derulo claims he was cursed at by multiple American Airlines employees during a dispute over baggage fees, but says everyone’s tune changed once they found out he was famous. Derulo tells PEOPLE he was flying from Miami to Los Angeles and checked in for his flight with his group and their luggage. He says there was a dispute about the timing of their check-in, so it was decided that one member of the group would stay behind and take the next flight in order to check all the luggage. According to an airline source, the most elite passengers for American Airlines get three checked bags for free, but Derulo’s friend tried to check 19 bags, which led to an additional charge.

The singer says he was on the plane, getting ready to depart, when he received a call from his friend saying that American Airlines wanted to charge $4,000 for their bags. He explains, “We’d never paid for our bags because of our status—with all of our miles—so we’d never paid for bags. So $4,000 is obviously a huge sum. We were like, ‘No, we’re not paying that. We’ve got to turn the plane around.’”

In a statement to PEOPLE, American Airlines says Flight 275 “returned to the gate prior to departure. A passenger elected to deplane in order to travel with their checked bags. The passenger has been rebooked with his checked bags on a later flight this evening.”

Derulo claims that as he and his friends were disembarking, the captain came out and began cursing at them and ordering them off the plane. He says, “And that was really upsetting to me because I felt like he was trying to make it seem like we were delinquents, and he was kicking us off the plane, when it was us that asked to get off the plane. I was like, ‘Listen, sir, you’re not going to talk down to me; I’m not your son. Don’t talk to me in that tone of voice.’”

Derulo says when he got off the plane, he and his group were met by 15 police officers, which Derulo called “super embarrassing.” Derulo says at this point, another American Airlines staffer began cursing at him and that’s when Derulo decided to act.

“As you can imagine, I’m surrounded by 15 police officers, I’m not going to curse back because I know what’s going to happen,” he says. “So I pick up my phone, and I go live on my Instagram. So I go live, and I start to hear whispers happening, and as soon as they find out who I am, everything changes. Every single person becomes somebody else, and all of a sudden, we’re not in trouble anymore.”

Derulo says he doesn’t plan on dropping the issue. “I just want everybody to be treated with respect. At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. I’m not asking for anything extra, I’m not asking to be taken care of.”

The police report filed by the Miami-Dade PD paints a slightly different picture. According to the report, an airline employee told police that Derulo and his group “smelled of marijuana and were getting aggressive” when they were checking in. The report also states that Derulo and his group refused to give their IDs to airline staff when they departed the plane and initially refused to do the same with police. No charges were filed and the case was closed.

[From People]

Cops claiming that a bunch of black dudes “smelled like marijuana” doesn’t have a racist tinge at all, does it? And why in the world would the group need to show ID as they depart the plane? And I agree with Derulo: you get what you pay for. He wanted to clear up a billing issue that probably should not have been applied given his membership status, and everyone freaked the f–k out. On Instagram, he called this “racial discrimination,” and I have to agree.

Nickelodeon Halo Awards 2016

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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130 Responses to “Jason Derulo claims ‘racial discrimination’ in altercation with American Airlines”

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  1. tegteg says:

    Smelling like marijuana is considered “probable cause” if police want to search you or anything – so, I’m not convinced that being mentioned had to do with their skin color. The whole story sounds fishy. I find it hard to believe the captain just came out of the cockpit to yell at them… How would he have known they were onboard? What’s more likely is that they caused a ruckus and the captain heard about it from his flight crew and then left the cockpit.

    I’m not going to jump to conclusions either way, I’m just a little frustrated that this site is becoming very quick to declare things as “racial discrimination”, etc. before we have the full picture.

    • Mona says:

      This ^^^

      • Lilian says:

        He sounds entitled. He made them turn the plane around? What about all the other passengers and the huge delay that must have caused.

      • Megan says:

        Since Trump is doing everything in his power to make us all live in total fear of a terrorist attack, a request to disembark because of baggage issues may have lead to an overly aggressive response by the airline and airport security.

        Also, I fly AA two or three times a month. I have never once heard a crew member or airport employee use inappropriate language. Staff may have been unaccommodating or rude, but I am side-eyeing the claim that multiple staff cursed him out.

      • Jellybean says:

        I agree! Demanding the plane be turned around is pretty extreme and hugely inconvenient to everyone else on board. As for checking their ID, they need to be clear who is on the flight and make sure all the bags they checked in have been removed; unattended bags on a flight are a real terrorism concern. I am sure they could have paid the money and demanded a refund and an apology when they reached their destination; seriously, who in their right mind would think it was ok to stop the flight because they felt hard done by? If someone was ill that is different.

      • velourazure says:

        I think “famous” people should stick to private jets so they and their ridiculous entourages and mountains of bags don’t bother the rest of us who are just trying to get from A to B. Sardine can commercial air travel is not capable of handling this kind of nonsense.

    • Ramona says:

      Lmao. Why is it more believable that black passengers “caused a ruckus” on a plane than a pilot was informed that he needed to halt takeoff to allow passengers to disembark and decided that in Trump America, no black man should be inconviniencing him in anyway?

      • Babooshka says:

        Just because passengers are black doesn’t mean they are immune from acting up. Sometimes people just suck, regardless of race. You don’t get a free pass for inconveniencing a plane full of people over baggage fees; if anything pay for it and pursue your complaint/reimbursement with the airlines once your journey has completed.

      • Pamela says:

        I fly a lot. It doesn’t matter to me what color you are…if you are the cause of the plane BEING TURNED AROUND BACK TO THE GATE??? That is a huge problem.

        A whole plane of people had to be inconvenienced because he didn’t want to pay to check 19 bags? Sorry, no. Regardless of whether it was fair for AA to charge him 4k for the bags (it seems like it wasn’t fair— but I don’t know what kind of limits there are— 19 bags sounds like an awful lot) , the ENTIRE plane was inconvenienced so he could get off. They lost their place in the takeoff line. Do you know how long of a delay that could potentially be?

        I don’t doubt that staff may have talked down to him, and that it may have been racially motivated and that is gross and awful . But I can’t imagine what it would take for me to demand a plane turn back at the gate for me. That just isn’t a common expectation.

    • Babooshka says:

      I’m not going to jump to conclusions either way, I’m just a little frustrated that this site is becoming very quick to declare things as “racial discrimination”, etc. before we have the full picture.

      ^ couldn’t agree more with the above. Sometimes I think the writers know that the audience here is likely to skew that way and want to read about racial tension and so they stretch anything they can to pander to that reader base. I’m a recently naturalized immigrant in the US and a woman of color so very much a minority group and I have found it borderline ludicrous that anytime something happens to a person of color, the immediate connection is that it’s a racial mistreatment of some kind. I believe that racial discrimination exists but like you said, smelling of marijuana is probable cause and just because you’re a minority, doesn’t mean you don’t smell of marijuana. Not every single thing is a racial conspiracy–In this jnstance it appears that some blame can be placed on the airlines and derulos entourage but I don’t think race has anything to do with it.

      • WTF says:

        Yes Babooshka
        Of course people of color just WANT to see discrimination in everything. *side eye*
        This attitude baffles me. You acknowledge that there’s racism in the US (with Baby fists in the White House how could you?) but ev then you try to explain away every instance of it.
        If your friend was at the gate with your stuff and they asked him t pay $4000, you would just pay it!?!? GTFOH
        if that’s how much it was going to cost, they should have told them that when they arranged for one of the guys to stay behind.
        And alleging that a group of black guys ‘smell like marijuana’ as you call the police on them is definitely racist.

      • Snowflake says:

        @wtf
        Thank you! I’m white, my husband’s mixed. Some people just really want to explain away any form of racism as not being real. I’ve seen some stuff when we are out and my husband tells me about stuff he has experienced. One time at work, some white guy told him he wasn’t white enough to use the bathroom. My husband played it off and said, well, I’m part white. Not white enough, he was told. I tried to get him to file a complaint but he wouldn’t. Prob cause he knows once you do that, the will be repercussions and your days will be numbered at that job. But when I try and tell other white people, they either tell me my husband’s making it up or were taking it the wrong way, etc, etc. So fucking crazy, why can’t people just admit it might be possible?

      • Greenieweenie says:

        Cosign WTF. I keep seeing this among white people in FB saying everyone else is making everything about race.

        Said this before, as a white person, your relationship to the state (society) is individual. You have an expectation that you will be seen as an individual and treated as an individual because you always have, on a legal basis, in the US.

        But black people haven’t. They’ve been treated as a group before the law. They’ve had to fight to be treated as individuals responsible only for their own behavior and not some faceless mass that behaves all the same way.

        So you just can’t draw parallels to your own experience as a white person. It is fundamentally different. A black person’s experience is shaped by different historical and social forces than yours. It’s not “making everything about race.” It’s acknowledging that in the US, everything IS fundamentally about race. The entire country was organized politically, economically and socially on racial lines. When someone feels like they’re being treated differently due to their race, overwhelming odds say they ARE.

      • Llamas says:

        I agree with babooshka. She didn’t say she “always” undermines people of color. She was talking about THIS SPECIFIC situation. Lord. Not everything is a race issue. Nothing is that black and white. If everything is a race issue then you are saying people of color never do anything wrong. C’mon people, get a grip.

        That being said, flying is taken VERY seriously, especially since 9/11. Any form of a scene being caused is going to get shut down usually with the scene maker being thrown off. Secondly, demanding a plane get turned around?!?! Idgaf about race, that’s a wildly inappropriate thing to do. It would scare the hell out of people on the plane. How does te crew know that this person isn’t a looney that would try to take over the plane or start losing their shite and hurt someone?!?! Besides that huge factor, holding up a plane is ridiculous. People have places to be, they have connecting flights, they’re on limited time schedule, the crew and pilot have other places to go. It’s his entitled attitude that people are annoyed at. He doesn’t get a pass for behaving poorly just bc of his skin color.

      • aenflex says:

        Some things are racially motivated, some things aren’t. Declaring that something is, without really knowing, is just the same as declaring that something isn’t, without really knowing.

      • ash says:

        but Babooshka would want all of us to rally behind her if she encountered Xenophobia ….. see you have to give other affected groups the benefit of the doubt…. and I seriously dont know why it is you cant…

    • Shambles says:

      Lol, so it’s like this today. Color me shocked

      • detritus says:

        Yup. As if anything needed to be said beyond ‘Conrad Hilton’ as proof of different treatment vis a vis drugs and attitude.

    • Snowflake says:

      I believe him. You do not think all the gossip sources will be paying employees for their story? If he lied, it would be very easy to get found out, so I doubt he would lie. Plus, what does he gain by lying? He’s going to have many people saying he’s playing the race card, there is no advantage for him to lie about this. He is going to get a lot of negative publicity for reporting this. I believe him 100%. I hope that airline pilot gets fired for cursing at him. No matter how a customer acts, you do not curse at them. Now I do believe they might have gotten loud, I would too if I was being treated disrespectfully. 15 cops, really?! Not if he was white, just saying. So yeah, I would be pissed if I were him!

      • K says:

        Celebrities lie all the time. They’re entitled, so they believe everyone should believe them.

      • Snowflake says:

        @k
        What is the advantage to him to lie? He’s already rich and famous. He knows if he does this, he’s going to be accused of playing the race card, etc, etc. Why do you do readily believe he’s lying? Please tell me the benefit to him to lie?

      • LadyT says:

        Celebrity acting like a celebrity? I don’t think he considers it lying per se. I think he demonstrated an entitled attitude, he’s indignant about his treatment, likes attention, he has a celebrity platform and he has a story for the media about how he was wronged.
        Some fans will be fired up on his behalf- some people will think it’s BS.

      • Lady D says:

        Fifteen cops??? What are all these well trained and armed policemen so afraid of?

      • Snowflake says:

        @lady d
        A black man

      • LadyT says:

        Don’t cause a disturbance on a plane and zero cops will show up. Otherwise it’s their job to respond. Is there a proper number? Couldn’t say.

    • Freelovingspirit says:

      I think police are quick to say they smell marijuana as an excuse to do whatever they want. Who can prove they didn’t smell it? It has happened several times to people I know who do not smoke it just to search a vehicle.

      • Tobbs says:

        I think that it’s a really easy excuse for shady police to use for sure, but I also have no problem believing that a pop star and his entourage that show’s up late to their check in on their way from California to LA might have smelled like weed.

      • tegteg says:

        I agree with both of you.

    • Peeking in says:

      TEGTEG – I think since the plane was turned around at the gate, the captain would be aware of them being on the plane, and he was likely annoyed that his schedule was messed up.

      • tegteg says:

        Excellent point, I hadn’t thought of that. In that case, it is very possible that the pilot was already disgruntled and left the cabin. I’m interested to see if any more details are revealed because the story still seems odd to me. I hope this isn’t the result of TRUMP America :/

      • paranormalgirl says:

        It’s not jut HIS schedule. It’s the schedule of every one else on that plane. They should all be inconvenienced because of one person who thinks checking 19 bags is the same as checking 3?

    • Katie Grace says:

      I think the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Only thing I’d add is it makes sense they need to show ID when the get off the plane so the passenger manifest can be updated.

      • Doodle says:

        I agree, they were both probably not acting responsibly.

        I will say that after an airline attendant offered my kids candy that she did not have, then we sat on the Tarmac for over an hour and they wouldn’t let my three year old son use the restroom and almost threw us off the plane when he had an accident on the seat, I believe that airline personnel can be total douchebags. My mother convinced me not to complain but I wish I had. It was awful.

    • KittyKat says:

      YES! Was thinking the same thing. Just saying that they smelled like pot does not equal racial discrimination. Please save your outrage.

    • Greenieweenie says:

      Uh, I believe it. Taught in enough high schools to see how groups of young black men get treated. It’s about fear, it’s about culture but mostly, it’s about race.

    • Hmm says:

      ^this too.
      Not everything is about race, and jumping to that frequently without evidence just undermines the cause.

    • me says:

      We also don’t know the ethnicity of any of the American Airlines staff or captain. We are assuming everyone was white…we shouldn’t do that.

    • HappyMom says:

      Exactly.

    • Madailein says:

      He sounds like an entitled, imperious, unlikable man (demanding the whole PLANE turn around?) so he and his friends might well have been behaving very poorly in the first place. I think NO ONE here—unless they were on the plane and witnessed the whole scenario–can actually claim that it was due to racial discrimination—not without making ignorant and prejudiced assumptions. To me it sounds like he and his friends were acting in a disruptive manner, so I have no idea what his race has to do w this.

    • SKF says:

      Eh, this could go either way. This could be a mix of a few things too. It’s altogether possible that he acted like an entitled celebrity and was out of order AND there was some racial discrimination going on. As someone who flies constantly for work I would be livid if someone demanded the plane turn around because they didn’t want to pay for luggage! And I totally understand the captain being pissed because he would have to do all the paperwork for the plane and passengers again, confirm that all the luggage was off, and then get back into the runway queue because they’d have lost their place. That could lead to really long delays, people missing connecting flights, etc. Regardless of the fact that he is a high-level customer, it sounds like they were late to check in (and high level customers get a lot of leeway with that so they must have been super late), and I’m sorry but that’s on them, not the airline. Then they wanted 19 bags for free?? I’m unclear on whether just he had the special status or all of them? If it’s just him, 19 bags for free is ridiculous. And if he WAS entitled to them, then just pay it, and sort out the refund at the other end. Don’t turn a plane around! That’s insanely entitled behaviour! If you are exiting a plane early like this you also need to hand over ID as you exit, so if they didn’t that is also poor behaviour from them. Now, as for the way they were subsequently treated? I have no idea. I wouldn’t presume to tell a POC who has likely experienced lifelong discrimination what is and isn’t discrimination. It’s completely possible this was happening. It is all too common after all! However, I do think that from his OWN description of events that he was way out of line and this may have contributed to the way he was subsequently treated and that should be acknowledged. What a mess!

  2. Hfsni says:

    As a pilot if someone is screaming while on the plane…yes u call the cops

  3. Clare says:

    I can’t read his name without singing ‘Jaaassoon Darooooloooo’ in my head.

  4. Tris says:

    I’m not sure if I agree. It sounds like they were late for their flight (their fault to begin with), somehow got to board anyway, and then insisted that the plane get turned around on the tarmac so they could get off?!?! I can’t imagine in a million years demanding that kind of privileged treatment. So I don’t see racial discrimination here. I see someone demanding special treatment, and the staff getting annoyed by this.
    And I’m not sure why “smelling like MJ” is racially charged. Maybe because most of the people I know who smoke are white, but pot has a strong and distinctive smell.
    I might be way off base here? If so, enlighten away!

    • Tobbs says:

      I agree with you. There were so many odd things in this story. Maybe it’s because I’m living on a student loan and don’t know how to travel with all the luxuries high mileage apparently includes, but expecting 19 bag for free when the limit is three and expect to the plane to turn back when it’s already on the tarmac? I would never. Also, MJ smells very distinctly a while after you’ve smoked so I don’t see the immediate connection between this and racism, but I’m not black so maybe that’s why I’m not seeing it.

      • Greenieweenie says:

        If you don’t travel a lot, you maybe don’t
        get the issue with checked luggage. I do, and airlines are the worst with how they arrange it so you pay multiple times to check baggage. One time I was traveling across the US from an international flight and they charged me three times for ONE TINY CARRYON BAG. Like 150$ just for having luggage, period.

        Anyway, the point is no baggage fees means no fees for excess checked baggage. And I agree that 19 bags is a lot but it could’ve been his assistant checking stuff for a show, costumes, etc. When you travel from place to place, you have to bring everything with you. It’s up to AA to set a maximum limit and if they don’t in order to create a perks system, then they don’t. I would be pissed if I were him too.

      • Tobbs says:

        Actually, I do travel several times a year. I’ve just never traveled anything other than economy. And I do know how rigid and unaccommodating airlines can be sometimes. Once me and my ex decided to pack together for our travel, and ended up having one suitcase of 24kg, the max for each bag on the ticket was 20 kg. However when I tried to point out that I had paid for 40kg in total when you combined our tickets and pointed out that we would only be checking one bag instead of two and thus was well under my limit I was met with nothing other than a rude attitude and asked to pay an additional 100$ or leave the bag. Belive me, I get the frustration.

        Now it says in the article that elite passengers with American Airlines get three bags checked for free. So how he was surprised that checking in 19 wouldn’t be a problem reeks of a celebrity’s/rich person’s privilege to me. Also the notion that the airline somehow owed him to turn the freaking plane around instead of asking to be reimbursed the 4k later is also a douche move imo. If he was so worried about the cost he shouldn’t have left it to be sorted by someone else.

        I believe that poc experience racism and microaggressions on airports every single day. However I believe that this instance leans more towards a celebrity thinking that the world revolves around him than that. Also, I find your assumption based on my comment to be a bit condescending to be frank. There was no reason for you to believe that you would have to explain the basics of air travel to me.

      • paranormalgirl says:

        I travel a lot. I have a concierge key from AA. Concierge Key is something given to you. You can’t earn it. And really, it’s actually not all that great. You do get executive platinum status included and that will waive the fees for 3 checked bags. Not 19.

    • Babooshka says:

      I don’t see racial discrimination here at all. it sounds like Derulo and team had some arrangement on how to check their baggage and something slipped through the cracks and their bratty expectations not being met is being characterized as “racial discrimination.”

    • LadyT says:

      >>>>Cops claiming that a bunch of black dudes “smelled like marijuana” doesn’t have a racist tinge at all, does it? And why in the world would the group need to show ID as they depart the plane?

      What if they DID smell like marijuana? Cops can’t say so because that’d be racist?
      They had to show ID to get off the plane for the same reason you show a boarding pass to get on. Records.

  5. QQ says:

    This is So Ugly and yet so absolutely unsurprising, The fact is I’ve gotten used to the dog whistle tone with which stories like this get covered , I’m not saying here AT ALL , I’m saying TMZ, The Press The News in general, when something shitty and microaggresive and discriminatory happens to us it’s always painted as we were “doing the most” in some sort of way so as to justify why we don’t get to be heard/a turn/due process etc

    On a Lighter Note Im an avowed Jason Derulo Truther, since his beginning in the scene No one tells me that young man isn’t a smooth 45 years old at least

    • PGrant's Girl says:

      QQ: I have never heard of Jason Derulo Truther-ism! Please tell me more! I love stuff like that.

      • QQ says:

        No One is going to ever convince me he is a Youth, in League with Chris Brown (agewise) and I do mean NO ONE So I won’t be surprise when his real Birth certificate shows up and he is like a 40 y.o Jamaican Dad that has been perpetrating the whole time

    • Greenieweenie says:

      Hmm, wow. He dated Jordyn Sparks when she was young and I knew her sort of…she was a church girl.

      Also, he is very popular in China.

  6. Shell says:

    I’m not even gonna comment on the possible racism but since when do planes go back to the gate and let someone off just because they got a call and want to travel with their bags? I thought that once you were boarded you weren’t allowed back off. That point alone makes me think they did get kicked off.

    • swak says:

      Didn’t think anyone had that power unless it was a true emergency. I can see letting them off if they had not left the gate, but to go back was a bit much – doesn’t matter who you are.

  7. Shambles says:

    This story is being told from his experience, so I have no doubt it was racial discrimination. I have no idea how he felt, so I believe him.

    That said, if they have a whole entourage of people, and each of them checks their own bags, of course the 3-bag rule would mean that they wouldn’t have to pay for any of them. But if you leave one random member of the entourage with all 19 bags, how the f*ck is the airline person supposed to know they’re all Jason Derulo’s bags? Of course they were going to be charged for all the bags. That whole part of the story just came off bratty.

    I’ve typed “bags” too much and now it feels weird.

    • Babooshka says:

      Yeah it sounds like Derulo and team had some arrangement or not and something slipped through the cracks and their bratty expectations not being met is being characterized as “racial discrimination.”

      • Shambles says:

        I literally said at the beginning of my comment that I believe him, that I believe it felt like racial discrimination. I tried to make it clear that my comments about his bags was totally separate from that. I’m not here to tell a black man when he can and cannot feel discriminated against

      • Tobbs says:

        @Shambles – But there’s a difference between feeling discriminated against and actually being discriminated against. I too believe that he felt discriminated against and that he’s not lying about how he perceived it. Also, I’m not here to tell anyone whether they can or cannot feel they way they feel. But with a story like this, with so many weird turns and so much room for confusion and misunderstandings, there has to be room to take a step back and say: Okay, so a few individuals felt discriminated against and felt that they were treated poorly, we need to look into that. The default answer cannot be yes, racism every time. The world is more nuanced than that.

      • Sixer says:

        We seem to be faced with two possibilities:

        Celebrity acted brattish and entitled and made a tit of himself.

        Black man treated badly cos racial discrimination.

        It seems to me that both possibilities are hallmarks of the bloody awful world we find ourselves in. To me, it’s equally depressing, whichever is the correct interpretation. And y’know. Who’s to say that isn’t both things that happened. Because it probably was.

      • paranormalgirl says:

        I don’t think the entitled behavior rules out that they were treated unfairly. They are not mutually exclusive.

    • Snowflake says:

      If I was gonna be charged 4k for some bags, I’d be having that plane turn around too! Lol

      • paranormalgirl says:

        especially if the going rate for a checked bag is $100 – $150 a bag. They were being overcharged by at the (if the fee was $150) least $1150

    • Babooshka says:

      @tobbs- I cosign 100% I share in your sentiments completely especially this part “But with a story like this, with so many weird turns and so much room for confusion and misunderstandings, there has to be room to take a step back and say: Okay, so a few individuals felt discriminated against and felt that they were treated poorly, we need to look into that. The default answer cannot be yes, racism every time. The world is more nuanced than that.”

      I don’t subscribe to the notion that just because I feel something is racist towards me, as an Asian immigrant woman, that i is is. I think the knee jerk response around here is to accept that if a person “felt” discriminated against then it was definitely discrimination as opposed to airline protocol or policy or that the person who felt discriminated against engaged in conduct that caused some reaction from the airline for ex.

  8. Malificent says:

    If I was the pilot and I was told that I had to turn the plane around on the runway because some idiot confused 3 free checked bags with 19 checked bags, and then didn’t want to pay, I’d be swearing too. Sounds more like a the main issue here is over-privileged celebrities.

    • Babooshka says:

      Yeah I think this article should’ve been about derulo acting a brat but they turned it into discrimination because derulo is black.

      • Tobbs says:

        I co-sign Matomeda’s comment. It’s so nice to see you try to get your opinions across in a polite and educated way, babooshka. (Also, every time I see your username I think of Kate Bush’s awesomeness:D) It’s disheartening to see how the comment section has evolved here over time. I’ve been coming to this site daily for the mix between thoughtful discussions mixed with juicy gossip and escapism. Now I almost avoid the comment section because of the strong echo chamber of hostility (perfectly put) when you try to comment something that doesn’t align perfectly with the current opinion. I welcome criticism with open arms regarding my own privileged position as a white, scandinavian woman and I’m so grateful for all the eyeopening points that have been made here, about the exclusion of woc from the feminist narrative and so much more. But when you come from a place of honesty and a wish to broaden your perspective and you’re met with hostility and comments like “major side eye, I can’t with people like you, or straight out being called a racist” when you don’t immediately agree is disheartening for sure. Lifting the voices of the marginalized surely cannot mean that others have to loose theirs.

      • applepie says:

        I’m sorry to say, me too 😧

      • applepie says:

        @tobbs. I am proud to be who I am. Every good human should feel the same, regardless of their ethnicity or race. I will not apologise for my upbringing because I had no hand in that, neither should you.

      • bluhare says:

        I agree as well. I thought it was just me!

      • Crox says:

        I have the same experience here, thank you for putting it so eloquently.

      • Otaku Fairy says:

        The funny thing is that all of the hostility in the comment section right now is coming from the people very invested in trying to shut the conversation down by dismissing it as race-baiting, an example of someone getting a pass for ‘wrongdoing’ because he’s black, and breaking into condescending breitbart lectures about oversensitive minorities and liberals. The same ones saying “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions” have already jumped to one of their own, and then automatically start complaining about how ‘attacked’ or persecuted *they feel* (didn’t some of you just say that just because you ‘feel’ someone’s treating you a certain way doesn’t mean they are?) for voicing their opinion about oversensitive minorities, liberals, and Jason Derulo being the guilty party here, all before anyone has even called them a name, threatened them, or done anything other than disagree with them and point out that there tends to be a predictable, dismissive response whenever conversations about racial discrimination or cultural insensitivity come up without it being an obvious case of ‘this person used a racial slur’ or ‘this person is a neo-nazi’. At best it comes off as defensive, at worst it all comes off as the usual gaslighting.

        http://contemporaryracism.org/3264/microaggressions-gaslighting-is-there-a-difference/

      • Lady Rain says:

        Great comment, Otaku.

        Just because this isn’t a case of obvious racism and instead deals with subtler issues of racial microagressions, doesn’t mean that Jason’s perceptions are completely inauthentic and/or he’s simply some whiny liberal “snowflake” (ugh, hate that term).

      • paranormalgirl says:

        Of course, it could easily have been both. He acted like an entitled tool AND was treated in a specific manner because of his color. Fact is, we don’t have the full and complete story, so we, in the grand scheme of things, really don’t know.

      • LadyT says:

        Otaku.
        In your post you’ve addressed commenters as hostile, dismissive and predictable, condescending, defensive and prone to gas lighting.
        You also unfairly stretch an opinion about a specific incident into a generalized stand on racial discrimination and cultural insensitivity.
        I don’t agree nor do I see this as in any way promoting enlightenment. (See Tobbs comment above… And then yours.)

  9. Clare says:

    Kaiser – I disagree. When you deplane, you have to show ID so you can be taken off the flight manifest. Every airline in the world does this (or should be doing this). It’s a HUGE security issue when people disembark a flight like this.

    I don’t know if he was discriminated agaisnt, but from his own narrative he sounds like an enormous diva. ‘We gotta turn this plane around’? I mean, come on, this doesn’t sound like an entitled brat? turning a plane around can cost other passengers (and the airline) anywhere between 30 minutes to several hours to re-do all check, get a free runway etc. Its ridiculous, selfish and bratty.

  10. Tray says:

    Oh please. Never heard of this guy. And he wanted to check 19 bags??!! Entitled asshole who smelled like weed.

    • Snowflake says:

      I’m kinda amazed you’ve never heard of him!

      • Liz says:

        I’ve never heard of him. I’m a metalhead so would never hear his music. He sure is cute though!

      • Tris says:

        I’ve never heard of him, either. Is he really so famous you’d doubt it when we say we don’t???

      • Snowflake says:

        Yeah, it is.no it just seems to me you guys are trying make it seem as if he’s some unknown guy, out for publicity. I couldn’t tell you what songs he sings but I’ve heard of him.

      • Crox says:

        I’ve never heard his name, but I put it into YouTube and got the song that our office radio station plays once every freaking 2 hours. Not a bad song, but I’ve just heard it a hundred times too many to appreciate it.

    • Peeking in says:

      Tray – it was 15 people checking 19 bags.

      • swak says:

        According to the story, one guy was left behind to check 19 bags. So they would not know it was 15 people checking 19 bags. Seems messed up on both sides from the beginning.

      • paranormalgirl says:

        I doubt EVERYONE in his entourage has AA Exec Platinum or has a Concierge Key. You only get the checked bag credit for your own check in. If he normally got his entire entourage’s baggage checked in for free, that should have been arranged before arriving to the airport.

  11. AG-UK says:

    From what I know passengers flew with their bags. The same if you miss last boarding call and your bags are already on they won’t depart until they take the bags off. I would be most annoyed if I were on that flight.

  12. BabySwans says:

    Wait…I can make a plane turn around because I want to?!?!?! I thought planes only turned around for emergencies?

    • Liz says:

      I guess you can if you’re famous and feeling a little too entitled to pay for 19 bags. The passengers must have been pissed

    • LadyT says:

      I’d like to hear that part of the story myself. How exactly did he get a commercial plane to actually turn around and take his crew back to the gate? I don’t think he just raised his hand.

  13. Dodes says:

    I have a hard time believing that no one knew who he was. I used to work in a popular restaurant and anytime anyone even remotely famous came in, word spread like wildfire. Even if the staff didn’t recognize them, guests would often say to their server, “that’s so and so from Big Brother” Next thing you know all the staff are doing walk bys to check out the “celebrity” and asking, “do you watch Big Brother?”

    If that happens for reality TV contestants, I can only imagine what the reaction to a pop star would be. Something seems off with this story.

  14. Miss Kittles says:

    I think the most important question is why does a man need that much luggage? 19 bags??? My goodness! Did they just come from a girls trip or a bachelorette party?? Lol
    19 bags = high maintenance

  15. TyrantDestroyed says:

    This story has very strange elements starting by “the airplane had to return to the tarmac” which sounds a very expensive thing to do for the airline only to claim $4,000 dlls worth of luggage. Since I was not there and we’ve seen before that famous people can throw tantrums in commercial airplanes and airlines can be awful and greedy I don’t believe in the story of any of the parts involved at 100%

  16. HK9 says:

    I don’t think anyone in this situation acted well. If you check 19 bags without referencing the ‘arrangement’ they’re going to charge you, which is why you formalize the arrangement in a way that the airline can identify it and act accordingly. A pilot coming out of the cockpit to swear at you for any reason is unprofessional and so is what ensued. The fact that they backed off once they found out who he was makes me think they knew they didn’t handle it well either.

    • Taiss says:

      He was with 15 other people. Probably dancers, back up singers etc…

      • swak says:

        But only ONE person (according to the story) was left to check in the bags. So I can see where, to the check in person, it was 19 bags for one person. Although the amount seems unusually high. If you are allowed 3 bags per person, that leaves 16 bags to charge for. If the total charge was $4000, that’s $250 a bag (sorry, the math person in me wanted to know!).

  17. lucy2 says:

    I’m feeling like the truth is somewhere in the middle. If he felt racially discriminated against, I’m going to believe his experience.
    However, it sounds like the beginning of the problem started with them wanting to check far more bags than their membership level allows, and by deciding to deplane the one guy because of the luggage, they caused the entire plane to be delayed, so I can understand the pilot being annoyed. If they reacted to him in a racial motivated way, that’s certainly on the pilot and staff though.

  18. Scarlett says:

    I’m sorry but NO.
    I’m a flight attendant and I can assure you the cops would be called in this situation, regardless of who it is. If you want to tell the pilot what to do, you need to be on a private jet – not a commercial airliner. A group of people demand to be taken back to the gate?!?! For something other than a medical condition? They are most definitely getting met by cops. Sorry not sorry, hun. That’s just not how it works. And I can imagine AA was probably rude..but they are rude to everyone lol. And maybe you can check 3 bags free but you can’t insist the “people you are traveling with” get the same. 19 bags! Airlines hate bad press so I’m sure they changed their tune a bit when learning someone was filming but it doesn’t change the fact that he created a disturbance and required the plane return to the gate.

  19. Chingona says:

    The problem is that life isn’t black and white, yes Jason was probably being an entitled celeb but that doesn’t mean that he wasn’t treated badly. Everyone here saying he is being a jerk need to relize that businesses and people go out of there way to give celebrities and rich people a level of service that most of us are not acustmed to because the level of money they are spending or the exposure. So he and his entourage had 19 bags in total for check in and most celebrities have someone in their entourage who would stay behind and do the mundane task of check in. They have done this a million times before but this time the employees didn’t recognize him and instead saw them as just a bunch of weed smelling black dudes. So yes race does come in to this becuase as soon as they relized he was a famous black guy it was, okay. A entitled, jerk, etc. can still be discrimated against just like a bitchy or less than perfect women can still be raped. A victim of crime or racism does not have to have been on their best behavior or not have acted a certain way just to be belived.

  20. OriginallyBlue says:

    Lol. These posts are so predictable. Maybe I’ll be shocked one day.
    Anyway, an employee told the police that they smelled like weed and were aggressive and it didn’t become a problem until after the plane turned around? OK. I think there is more truth on his end than theirs because they will boot you from the plane and arrest you for causing a disturbance. No one got arrested and the case is closed.

  21. Pandy says:

    It sounds plausible so I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt.

  22. Lilly says:

    Yes, I believe him and I agree with his decision. Who is going to keep going after being told it would cost $4,000? Especially after they must have had a long discussion about this negotiating the one person staying behind to catch a later flight. Keep holding American Airlines accountable and good job not reacting Jason Derulo, you’re correct that the color of your skin will make for an over-reaction from the authorities.

    • Snowflake says:

      +1

    • Lady D says:

      Fifteen freaking cops. Not an over-reaction at all. /s

    • LadyT says:

      >>>>Especially after they must have had a long discussion about this negotiating the one person staying behind to catch a later flight.

      No. The article says he was late to check-in… with 19 bags no less! His party boarded leaving the bags to be dealt with later. He handled his own business poorly.

    • Wendy says:

      15 police – 13 disembarking passengers refusing to show I.D? It doesn’t sound all that excessive to me.

    • Llamas says:

      “Who’s going to keep going”?!?!

      He’s on a commercial plane fgs!!! They have no option but to keep going. Unless you are having a medical emergency like a stroke or a heart attack the plane isn’t going to inconvenience the 100+ other people on the plane. He could work it out later. You do not mess around on planes. End of. If I saw someone demanding that the plane change directions and causing a ruckus I would probably have a panic attack bc flying makes me so anxious already. Planes changing directions out of nowhere because of some person would leave anyone white knuckling their arm rests bc historically changing directions randomly because of a passanger has led to horrible tragedy.

  23. Jeesie says:

    I’m sorry, but this story makes him sound like a gigantic asshole. He made a plane turn around, inconveniencing hundreds of people, maybe thousands if other flights had to be delayed due to this, because his entourage messed up while checking in baggage and he’s too cheap to just pay the $4000. If he does have an arrangement, he could have paid and followed the issue up later.

    It’s a huge thing to get off a plane like that. It’s a big enough deal after the gates close, let alone actually turning the plane around when it’s on the tarmac. It’s extremely rare that anyone chooses to do this for any reason other than a dire emergency, sickness or extreme phobia. Even in those circumstances, it’s a massive security issue and unless you’re being taken in an ambulance, you will be detained while you’re taken off the flight manifest.

  24. Liz says:

    Did he have to pay for the massive inconvenience of having the plane return? If so, it probably would’ve been cheeper to pay for the bags! If I was a passenger on the flight, I’d want my money back or him to pay

  25. Margo S. says:

    That is so sad. I’m glad he’s talking about it and not letting this go. This happens far to often to non celebrities. This stereotyping mentality needs to stop.

    • HappyMom says:

      Just because someone says it’s racial discrimination doesn’t mean it is. He sounds like a ginormous, entitled jack-off who is trying to spin this.

      • koparbadi says:

        +1 happymom. seems like around here, if you take the position that people should be held accountable for their actions (not throwing a hissy fit and demanding that a commercial flight be turned around for your baggage fees) then it’s racial discrimination because the people at issue happen to be black. ridiculous.

  26. beauxblue says:

    they actually turned around a plane full of people for one customer who was disputing a baggage fee, glad I wasn’t on that plane.

  27. KaterinaP says:

    Good God. stop making everything about race. They tried to check 19 bags and then the entire flight got turned around because of their giant entourage with all their bags. If I was on that flight I’d be so mad.

  28. Marzy K says:

    Otaku Fairy- your comment is everything.

  29. Marianne says:

    Ok, does Jason’s friends all have the same Concierge Key? Because of course if they don’t and they’re trying to check 19 bags it is going to cost money. And of course they cant just take their word that their friend has this privilege or that their friend is famous.

    And…couldn’t he have just disputed the charges later? Seems excessive to make a plane turn around for something that is not life threatening.

    • paranormalgirl says:

      they wouldn’t all have the key. It’s invitation only. You can’t really “earn” it.

  30. Lady Rain says:

    This has been a pretty disappointing thread to see today, to say the least.

    But the thoughtful posts from some of reasonable regulars whom I’ve come to admire – QQ, Sixer, Shambles, Greenie Weenie, Otaku Fairy, Snowflake, Kitten (where is Kitten BTW lol?) has made it a more heartening experience. Your funny and enlightening insights are much appreciated!

    • HappyMom says:

      What exactly is so disappointing about it? I’m all for calling out racial discrimination. But if you actually read what happened-he’s just an a-hole who’s claiming that. And to me, that’s even more disgusting–because then what it does happen people don’t take it seriously.

  31. peanut says:

    UMMM – I get priority boarding and free checked bags b/c I’m an Aadvantage Member ie credit card holder with American Airlines… why is he acting like his Concierge Key is a f***ing big deal?

    • paranormalgirl says:

      I know, right? I have one because of the amount of travel I do and because I do some work booking travel for my family’s boutique resort. It’s not a big deal. It’s just exec platinum with some other useless perks thrown in. They just give it to people who generate travel.