Adam Saleh, a YouTuber known for videos of pranks, is claiming that he was removed from a Delta flight for speaking Arabic during a phone call to his mother, USA Today reports.
Saleh posted video on his twitter account of Delta officials coming to escort him off of his flight.
We got kicked out of a @Delta airplane because I spoke Arabic to my mom on the phone and with my friend slim… WTFFFFFFFF please spread pic.twitter.com/P5dQCE0qos
— Adam Saleh (@omgAdamSaleh) December 21, 2016
“I’m about to cry right now,” Saleh says in the video, repeatedly saying that he is being kicked off the plane for speaking a different language. He turns the camera around to show several passengers looking uncomfortable, though some can be seen waving goodbye to him. One non-white man defended him, demanding to know why Saleh was being removed.
There was immediately backlash against Delta on social media, with Twitter users calling for a boycott and demanding an explanation. Others, though, were skeptical of the story. They pointed to Saleh’s previous prank videos, including one in which he claims to have snuck himself onto a flight that security footage later showed him legally boarding.
A representative for Saleh says that the incident is legitimate, that his mother doesn’t speak English, so when he called her to let her know how long it would take him to be home he used her native language, Arabic. Multiple passengers seated around Saleh allegedly reported feeling uncomfortable by the call, some of which began swearing at and threatening him. The New York Times spoke with other passengers on the flight who corroborated Saleh’s story.
Delta issued this statement in response to the incident: “Two customers were removed from this flight and later rebooked after a disturbance in the cabin resulted in more than 20 customers expressing their discomfort. We’re conducting a full review to understand what transpired. We are taking allegations of discrimination very seriously; our culture requires treating others with respect.” Our culture, but not our sense of decency, apparently.
Saleh has been detailing his struggle to get back home to New York on his twitter.
We are still stuck at the airport and Delta has not given us any info. They keep telling us to wait. Please spread the word #BoycottDelta
— Adam Saleh (@omgAdamSaleh) December 21, 2016
UPDATE: We’re being security checked AGAIN right now.
— Adam Saleh (@omgAdamSaleh) December 21, 2016
UPDATE: were taking off right now and heading to our lawyer once in NYC. Any inquiries email: info@adamsalehworldwide.com
— Adam Saleh (@omgAdamSaleh) December 21, 2016
This is for certain: If this incident was real, it’s just another example of how twisted and racist our current society is. If it was another prank, Saleh needs to learn the difference between entertainment and taking it too far. Either way, something needs to change.