Track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson has hit the headlines after being kicked off an American Airlines flight.
The 22-year-old was involved in a verbal altercation with a flight attendant before the plane was due to take off. The 100m runner uploaded the clip to Instagram this afternoon and claimed the steward had disrespected her while instructing her what to do with her phone. Richardson claimed he then proceeded to stand over her and demand to look at the mobile to check it was in Airplane Mode. She engaged in heated discourse with some other passengers before she was taken off of the plane.
In one of her Insta posts regarding the incident, an aggrieved Richardson considered taking legal action against the airline and also claimed she had been a victim of discrimination. “Tell me if I’ll be wrong to pursue legal actions against the airline @americanair not only did the man threaten me but also an innocent bystander who simply just wanted a picture with me,” she wrote.
“In the beginning of the video you can hear a Caucasian male state that he doesn’t give a f as a man that male flight attendant is intimidating a woman. Also the captain not doing anything to help the situation and this flight attendant has the applause when I exited the plane when I’m pretty serious the disrespect I received would not have happened if I was a one of them.”
Using her Instagram stories, she added: “Prior to the video this gentleman asked me to get off a cell phone call, I did. I stated to him I didn’t like the tone he used with me. Following that while standing in front of me doing the safety protocols he continued to lean over to look at my phone. He asked to see that my phones were in airplane more at this point. He demanded that me show him. Which I did in front of him.”
She also posted a video to her main feed, in which she could be seen having a conversation with the flight attendant, where she also claimed he was harassing her. “I’m recording me but you jumped in my video, so I caught you, because you jumped in my video,” Richardson told him. “You’re harassing me at this point, so I think you should stop. I think you should stop.” He came into the shot and after showing him on camera, he moved back behind a curtain and asked her to stop recording.
Richardson then fired back: “No I am not going to stop recording because I was making a video to myself. I will not stop recording and this video will show what you are doing.” Multiple passengers behind her could subsequently be heard becoming agitated with the athlete, telling her to stop arguing so the flight could leave.
“Y’all see him right? Y’all see him right? Y’all see him right? I’m sorry, it’s not me,” Richardson responded. “Talk to him. No ma’am. Do no talk to me like that. I’m an adult. Do not talk to me like that. Do not talk to me like that. Tell him to stop. If you do not know what’s going on, do not yell at me.” While explaining that she thinks the flight attendant should have been kicked off as well, another passenger could be heard sarcastically telling her: “Thank you, by the way, I’m going to miss my connection, I have to now get off the plane.”
“Oh, so you’re worried about a connection when a grown man is disrespecting me?” Richardson responded. “I don’t give a s–t,” the passenger responded before Richardson hit back: "You don't give a s**t so I don't give a s**t, I didn't do anything." Daily Star Sport has contacted American Airlines for comment.
It is unknown where Richardson was set to travel to, but while speaking to the camera, she said she was on 'vacation time.' She further the flight attendant was upset because she was on holiday while he was having to work. On the track, the controversial sprinter has struggled since before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, when she was tested positive for marijuana.
As a result, she was dropped from the Team USA and missed the Games, and has since struggled to regain the form that saw her register a personal best of 10.72 seconds two years ago. The time saw her become the joint seventh-fastest woman of all time and the fourth-fastest American woman in the history of track and field.
