Australian pop duo the Veronicas have announced their support of Black Eyed Peas' star will.i.am following his accusation of racism against a Qantas flight attendant.
In a bizarre twist, the twin sisters claimed they were targeted by the same employee when they were removed from a Qantas aircraft by federal officers in September. The duo were allegedly offloaded for "refusing to follow crew instructions".
Will.i.am was allegedly addressed by an "overly aggressive" hostess while flying from Brisbane to Sydney on Saturday. It is understood that the rapper failed to put his laptop away when instructed by the PA announcements due to his noise-cancelling headphones.
He tweeted about the "worst service" directly from the plane before he was met by five police officers at Sydney airport. He was let go without further incident.
"I'm sorry to say me and my group have experienced [the worst] service due to an overly aggressive flight attendant. I don't want to believe she is racist. But she has clearly aimed all her frustrations only at the people of colour," he wrote.
"Your #RacistFlightAttendant was beyond rude and took it to the next level by calling the police on me. Thank god the other passengers testified that she was out of control."
Now, the Veronicas have pledged their support for will.i.am based on their own Qantas experience.
"We support will.i.am," the Veronicas, real names Jessica and Lisa Origliasso, wrote in a tweet on Sunday.
"Sadly this female flight attendant was one of two attendants involved in our incident with Qantas.
"We feel sickened she was given no reprisal and has instead continued to abuse her position, discriminate and misuse the full force and intimidation of the Australian Federal Police to her agenda. In this case to menace will.i.am and other POC [people of colour] on this flight.
"Both our incident and the recent [have] not [been] taken further by the AFP, stating it is a Qantas issue not a police matter."
The pop stars said the airline should have investigated the matter instead of "shifting blame" and "denying accountability".
"This should never have been allowed to happen," they wrote.
Will.i.am's claims have been supported by fellow passengers on Twitter, with one traveller saying there were "so many victims" on the flight while another apologised for the attendant's "appalling behaviour".
Another said they hid in the toilet as the "horrendous racist attack" unfolded.
The rapper, who has received backlash for naming the air hostess on Twitter, has asked his fans and supporters to stop sending the woman hateful messages.
Qantas has vehemently denied will.i.am's accusations, saying the "misunderstanding" was exacerbated by the rapper "wearing noise-cancelling headphones and not being able to hear instructions from crew".
"We completely reject the suggestion this had anything to do with race," a Qantas spokesperson told 7 News.
