Will.I.Am Shows Solidarity Following Dispute With Qantas’ Flight Attendant

As the will.i.am versus Qantas saga continues, Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am leads the group in a performance of solidarity and peace for the people of the First Nations amidst Qantas’ racial misconduct.     

Since their inception from the mid 90’s,  The Black Eyed Peas have explored the social and cultural issues surrounding racism, poverty,  and human rights. The group proudly makes music to show the world how music is a force for positivity, respect and healing.

This is what the Black Eyed Peas enacted at their performance in Australia’s annual festival: RNB Fridays Live at the Sydney Showground. 

The Black Eyed Peas performed their first major hit ‘Where Is The Love’ from their 2003 acclaimed album Elephunk, giving an important shout-out directed at the people of the First Nations. The live performance was aimed to express solidarity with Aboriginal people and call on Australia to show greater compassion for other minority groups.

The full performance can be seen in the Youtube link below:

Black Eyed Peas member, Taboo, who identifies as Native American, performed in a t-shirt emblazoned with the Aboriginal flag and gave special mention to the Justice4Walker campaign. Taboo held up an Aboriginal flag with a bloodied handprint in the middle to symbolise his sympathy and solidarity with the remote central desert community of Yuendumu following last week’s fatal shooting of Kumanjayi Walker.

 

will.i.am Versus Qantas

The performance follows hours after a heated exchange between will.i.am and a Qantas flight attendant on a flight from Brisbane to Sydney where will.i.am was subjected to racial abuse.  will.i.am took to Twitter to share his personal experience:

will.i.am insists he was targeted for racial profiling, claiming the flight attendant was “overly aggressive” towards him for not stowing his computer and headphones away quickly enough during a PA safety announcement. The flight attendant proceeded to contact the police after the flight who appeared to apprehend will.i.am.

 

From the Qantas standpoint

Qantas responded to the incident with a statement to the Washington Post, saying: “There was a misunderstanding on board, which seems to have been exacerbated by will.i.am wearing noise cancelling headphones and not being able to hear instructions from crew.”

will.i.am has received criticism from Australian and New Zealander Entertainment reporter Peter Ford from his conduct of exposing the flight attendant’s name publicly on Twitter. Ford who has been in an heated Twitter exchange with will.i.am since the altercation was quick to criticise will.i.am’s actions.

But the Twitter sphere was quick to deter Ford’s statement:

If the allegation’s about the flight attendant being accused of racism by will.i.am is not true, the flight attendant has a pivotal standing in taking a defamation claim against will.i.am. The Sydney Morning Herald who interviewed lawyer Bruce McClintock, SC, who recently represented actor Geoffrey Rush, told the newspaper, 

However, other passengers on the same flight as will.i.am have expressed their own personal experience about the flight attendant as well:

Australian pop duo The Veronicas have also expressed their sympathy towards will.i.am, revealing their own treatment of abuse from the same airliner which took place in September. Their Twitter post which allegedly claims their experience which resulted from the same flight attendant has recently been deleted:

Receiving support from fans and backlash by commentators on Twitter and other social media, will.i.am has expressed distress since the altercation and has urged his followers cease sending abusive messages about the flight attendant involved. 

Following the Black Eyed Peas’ performance, people of the First Nations commended the actions taken by will.i.am and the Hip Hop group.

The will.i.am versus Qantas Saga continues…

Let us know what your opinion on the situation is in the comments below.