The Color Purple star Fantasia Barrino Taylor has a lot to look forward to, two of them being the release of the new musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel and her first Golden Globe nomination. However, the singer and actress chose to delve a bit more into her past, revealing what she called a” racial profiling” incident perpetrated by Airbnb hosts, according to Entertainment Weekly.
On December 17, 2023, the 39-year-old actress took to X to reveal her experience of the incident. She wrote: “My stomach is so uneasy this morning as I’m riding back to my home in the cold and rain. I don’t say much when people do me wrong, but I can’t stay quiet on how my family and I were just treated from a host with @Airbnb @airbnbhelp trying to kick my kids and I out at 12:00 midnight.”
My stomach is so uneasy this morning as I’m riding back to my home in the cold and rain. I don’t say much when people do me wrong, but I can’t stay quiet on how my family and I were just treated from a host with @Airbnb @airbnbhelp trying to kick my kids and I out at 12:00…
— Fantasia Taylor (@TasiasWord) December 17, 2023
Taylor also shares that the host “accused” her of organizing a loud party “because they saw balloons being dropped off and a game truck with no generator in the early part of the day.”
She further added, “The amount of guests we reserved for are the amount of guests who stayed the night. They never said we weren’t allowed to have any company over!”
Defending her stance, Taylor explicated that the house was solely organized for parties, considering its amenities and leftover equipment from the previous party, according to EW.
She further called out this unjust behavior as “racial profiling”, writing:
“It’s evident to me this was racial profiling and the treatment we received was due to the color of our skin. I wanted my son to enjoy his friends [10-12 year-olds] and make him feel special as I have been travelling for the last 35+ days promoting a movie I starred in. This time, I dare not stay quiet.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Airbnb’s help account is reported to have replied to her post, clarifying that the company does not in any way “condone discrimination”. It also shared a link to its nondiscrimination policy and requested the actress to send a direct message with the email address connected to the booking so the team could follow up with her.
Not only that, but Barrino also took to Instagram to share the incident, explaining it in more detail. She posted a carousel of photos of a bunch of kids having the time of their lives doing several recreational activities. The post was captioned with:
“PLEASE READ: We have lost our internal compass of Love! Love moves us to deeply consider, it shifts us out of places of sympathy where we can gain a real understanding through empathy. When love is present, it overlooks your race, age, gender, profession, zip code and even your past. This, is what we teach our and exhibit before children, and this is what we wanted kids outside of our home to experience as well.
Being abruptly asked to vacate a house (which proved to not be a Home) on the first night while a diverse group of technologically & robotically Inclined group of kids (one is a pianist) were winding down to sleep was unthinkable. Gaining and understanding wasn’t the desire, while we were being screened on various Ring cameras, the happiness and “character” of the kids present also wasn’t considered. Right after a hot-chocolate Sip & Paint, without warning, we were asked to leave. So, at 6a, in the freezing rain, with sleepy kids, we loaded up 4 vehicles, respectfully cleaned and organized everything back to its original place and we left. Logistically, some of the children had to be immediately taken home, with one stating they didn’t want to go home. I didn’t deserve to look or feel like I let my son and the other kids down.”
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