3 hours ago
4
Now she’s being asked for the truth.
9 minutes ago
After flying home from New York, SISTAR‘s Soyou took to Instagram, claiming that she experienced racial discrimination on the Delta Air Lines flight.
SISTAR’s Soyou | @soooo_you/InstagramIn a Stories update, the K-Pop idol wrote that she was on board a connecting flight from Atlanta bound for Korea. It was when she asked for a “Korean flight attendant” to ask for the meal time that the purser flagged her as a problematic passenger and even got the security involved.
| @soooo_you/InstagramSoyou noted that she even offered to “get off” the flight if she was, indeed, being disruptive. According to the idol, she then had to endure the crew’s “attitude” throughout the entire flight after the initial interaction.
In the end, Soyou was unable to eat anything during the 15+ hour flight. She blamed “racial prejudice” and said the entire experience now remains “a deep wound.”
“After wrapping up my New York schedule, I boarded a layover flight from Atlanta to Korea.
Exhausted, I just asked for a Korean flight attendant to check the meal time, but the purser judged my attitude and treated me like a problematic passenger, even getting the security involved.
I even had to say, ‘If I’m the problem, I’ll get off,’ and afterward, I had to endure the cold gazes and attitudes of the crew throughout the flight.
At that moment, I thought, ‘Could this be racial discrimination?’
During the flight that lasted over 15 hours, I couldn’t eat anything,
and that experience now remains as a deep wound caused by racial prejudice.
I hope that no one will ever be suspected or humiliated because of their race.”
— Soyou
Following the update, K-Pop fans have pointed out that Delta is notorious for subpar customer service and hoped that the idol would seek further action for the discrimination she faced.
| theqoo- “Delta again? Damn.”
- “If Delta hates Asians that much, shouldn’t they just not fly to Asia at all?”
- “Even if it’s not a codeshare flight, there are often flight attendants on Korea-bound flights who can speak Korean, so it’s natural to ask. What’s so strange about that? This is ridiculous. Delta that acted racist, they’re the garbage.”
- “I also flew Delta from Atlanta on Saturday, and there was a flight attendant who spoke Korean. They even spoke Korean first if you looked Korean. On the Atlanta–Korea route, most passengers are Korean anyway. There’s no way they wouldn’t have one.”
- “My friend also goes on a lot of business trips abroad, and they absolutely despise Delta LOL. Said they’ll never ride it again after totally losing their cool over it.”
- “If they didn’t have a Korean attendant, they could’ve just said so. Why make such a big fuss?”
- “We really are too nice to foreigners, honestly. We go out of our way to speak English for them.”
- “Idiots LOL.”
- “You just shouldn’t take any North American airlines LOL. A lot of people still use Air Canada, United, American, and Delta for transfers because they’re cheap, but seriously, their service is garbage. Even when I think Korean airlines are overly polite, those ones make you completely fed up.”
However, someone who allegedly was on the same flight has since come forward and accused Soyou of not telling the whole story. The comment, now also circulating online, claimed that the idol was rowdy.
I was on the same flight… Soyou, in an intoxicated state, said she was tired and wouldn’t eat. I also heard the staff say that passengers shouldn’t board while intoxicated. To twist that situation and call it racial discrimination isn’t right… In that moment, as a fellow Korean and also as a fan, I felt so embarrassed. I felt so bad for the flight attendants, too…
Since it was a night flight, I didn’t notice at first. But after sitting down, I noticed things getting kind of loud and looked over—it was Soyou. She said herself that she was drunk and couldn’t read the menu, so she asked for a Korean flight attendant. There was no security involved.
— @joysnfl_/Instagram
Now, Soyou is seeing comments asking if she might have been the problem.
| @soooo_you/Instagram- “You used the phrase ‘racial discrimination’ to describe the issue, but don’t you think that maybe you were the one being rude? Can’t you admit that possibility?”
- “You were racist first. What on earth are you talking about?”
- “Posting in Korean so you can understand. Soyou, don’t you think you might have been rude? You couldn’t even ask about the meal in English?”
- “A fellow passenger shared the full story. I won’t repeat what they said, but they were embarrassed as a Korean. I get things happen, but for you to turn it into an Instagram Story? There are articles about this now, so… You’re going to be in a bit of a pickle for a while, I assume.”
- “Next time remember ‘food when?’ so you’re not embarrassing other Koreans.”
- “If you specifically asked for a Korean flight attendant rather than just one who could speak Korean, then you were the one being racially discriminatory first. Get a grip.”
- “If you were really uncomfortable, you should’ve filed a proper complaint instead of whining about it on social media… So many people have gotten canceled after making things public on Instagram. And also, realistically, American businesses wouldn’t just… be racist for no reason. I mean, one lawsuit and Delta could end up having to pay hundreds of thousands. Just beware that if anyone is to come forward and say you were the problem, you could end up being accused of reverse discrimination. Reading your Story post, it sounds like they might have understood it as you not wanting to talk to a white person and insisted on getting a Korean crew member to help you.”
Soyou is yet to respond to the comments accusing her of twisting the story.
Read more about the time Girl’s Day‘s Hyeri also called out Delta for an upsetting flight:
Girl’s Day’s Hyeri Calls Out International Airline For Harrassment
English (US) · 