Eric André was “racially profiled” as he travelled through Melbourne Airport.
Eric André was ‘racially profiled’ as he travelled through Melbourne Airport
The 41-year-old comic, famed for ‘The Eric André Show’, said in an Instagram video he was cornered and subjected to a check by a sniffer dog after he had finished a 25-hour trip involving stops in Los Angeles, Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia for a shoot.
He claimed in his clip he was “detained” and “pulled out of a line-up and put in a special line” in Melbourne, where he claims he was “sniffed thoroughly” by a dog.
Eric added: “Those dogs are pretty much ineffective. It’s one of the many times I’ve been racially profiled at the airport.
“So this is a message for all Black, brown and Indigenous people travelling through Melbourne today, especially if you’re traveling through Qantas International by Terminal 2: Please be careful.
“They are searching Black, brown and Indigenous people. Please let me know if anybody knows the names of those officers with the dogs or what that program is.
“If anybody has information on a discrimination Australian lawyer, I’m all ears.”
Eric has previously said he was racially profiled at the Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport in 2021 and later took legal action over the incident.
He also asked his followers if they could send him figures on how many people “of colour” officials at Melbourne airport had “put into this dog-sniffing line” when compared with the number of white passengers held back.
Eric went on: “Anybody hiring me to work in Australia going forward, whether it's a production or a tour, please don’t make me go through the Melbourne Airport alone.
“Please provide a police escort or some type of security escort for me, or have me fly into Brisbane or Sydney directly.
“I do not feel safe in the Melbourne Airport. I do not want to be humiliated or racially discriminated against anymore at these airports.
“I don’t want to cut my hair and wear a three-piece suit so that I’m treated like a first-class citizen.
“I shouldn’t be made to feel that I am unaccepted by entering a country. Shame on the people at the Melbourne Airport that have this cockamamie procedure. I doubt it yields any safer world for anybody in Melbourne or Australia.”
Melbourne Airport commented under Eric’s Instagram post hours after he uploaded it on Sunday (18.08.24), saying it “does not tolerate racism in any form”.
It added: “We are following up your complaint with the Australian Border Force (ABF) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) who are in charge of processing all international arrivals at Melbourne Airport and other Australian international gateways.
“Melbourne Airport is proudly the gateway to one of the most multicultural cities in the world. We welcome ALL passengers to Melbourne, and we expect everyone to be treated equally.”