American rapper Gillie da King did not mince his words when he took to social media to rant about American Airlines after the carrier offloaded him despite holding an Executive Platinum status.
Gillie da King, whose real name is Nasir Ford, was offloaded on August 8, 2023 in Madrid’s Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD). Although he did not specify which airport or city, Ford intended to board a flight back to the United States.
“I’m an Executive Platinum member. Executive. Platinum. I fly three times a week, man. American Airlines. They oversold the flight and gave our tickets away. I was first class, man,” Ford began his Instagram account tirade.
“Now they say they ain’t got a flight back until Thursday? American Airlines–is that how you treat y’all Executive Platinum members? I’m confused,” the rapper continued, pacing the airline’s check-in counters.
“I’m in Madrid, and y’all gave my flights away. My first class flights away. What is it, American Airlines? The people at the desk, they treat you like sh*t, they tell you they can’t do nothing for you. What’s going on, American Airlines?” Ford continued to rant.
Reiterating his status, Ford once more said, “I’m an Executive Platinum member. I think that’s the highest. I don’t think there’s none above that, is it? Hell no, I’m confused though.”
His anger mounting, Ford’s demeanor suddenly changed and he started to seeth: “I need to get the f**k out of here tomorrow, American Airlines! So y’all better make something f**king happen, man. Y’all f**king up money, deals I gotta go, places I gotta be, meetings I gotta be in, and y’all gave my seat away? Y’all overbooked the flight and gave your Executive Platinum seats away. You gotta figure something the f**k out, American Airlines.”
A succeeding video clip showed Ford and his travel companions in a heated exchange with an American Airlines staff at MAD airport:
In the video clip, the American Airlines agent can be heard offering Ford and his companions the option of a standby ticket for the following day.
The group’s conversation and tone started to escalate when the agent suggested that the check-in desks close at 11:30, and that the group was not at the desk by that time. The group was adamant that they were indeed there before that time.
The conversation ended with the agent threatening to call the police if the group continued talking to him “that way.”
As a comment to accompany the video, Ford wrote: “American Airlines, I had to pay 4,000 for new flights 1900 on hotels rooms and 1 of ur representatives calls me n says so what type of compensation are u lookin 4. I responded My Lawyer will let u know. they also said we can’t do anything until u trip is complete I said what if I was a college student with no money what was I supposed to do that’s when the phone went silent for 20 seconds and they responded I don’t know.”
AeroTime reached out to American Airlines to get a statement regarding the incident.
This is not the first time that Ford has got into an altercation with American Airlines. In November 2022, the rapper claimed he was racially profiled by the airline when he was stopped on a jet bridge while boarding a flight so that an officer could search his belongings for marijuana.