*U.S. track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson filmed herself being kicked off an American Airlines flight on Saturday.
Richardson took to Instagram to unpack what exactly went down, claiming she had an argument with a flight attendant who was “disrespecting” her.
“Prior to the video this gentleman asked me to get off a cell phone call, I did,” Richardson said on her Instagram Story. “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.”
“I want to take responsibility for my actions,” she added. “I’m not looking for an excuse.”
READ MORE: Sha’Carri Richardson Speaks Out About Abusive Relationship with Jamaican Athlete
Sha’carri Richardson gets kicked off a flight when the flight attendant told her to get off a phone call and put her phone on airplane mode. She started recording a video, refused to stop, yelled at the attendant, abused passengers and the whole flight applauded as she left. pic.twitter.com/MzjW13SANL
— Sha’carri Richardsonn (@shacarri_) January 21, 2023
“I would like to say to my fans and my family and my sponsorship, to the haters, too, I apologize,” she said. “As much as I’m disappointed, I know that when I step on that track, I don’t represent myself, I represent a community that has shown me great support, great love.
Watch the moment the controversial athlete is booted from the plane via the Twitter clip above. In the footage, Richardson can be seen recording herself before panning the phone camera over to a flight attendant.
“I’m recording me but you jumped in my video so I caught you, because you jumped in my video,” Richardson says to the flight attendant.
“You can’t record,” the flight attendant is heard saying.
“You’re harassing me at this point so I think you should stop, I think you should stop,” Richardson responds.
She is ultimately removed from the flight to the applause of many passengers.
In a statement, per NBC News, an American Airlines spokesperson said Richardson took a later flight. It’s unclear where she was traveling to.
“We reaccomodated the customer on a later flight and a member of our team has reached out to learn more,” the company said.
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