Fantasia Barrino will "dare not stay quiet" after she was kicked out of an Airbnb rental for throwing a birthday party for her son.
The Color Purple star took to both X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram accusing the property's host of racial profiling after she, along with her son and his friends, were told to leave at midnight.
She first tweeted:
"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."
The singer and actor noted that she adhered to all policies put in place by the host.
"The host accused us of having a party with loud noises outdoors because they saw balloons being dropped off and a game truck with no generator in the early part of the day."
"The amount of guests we reserved for are the amount of guest who stayed the night. They never said we weren’t allowed to have any company over!!"
"It’s evident from the sayings on the wall, to the outdoor fire pit/jacuzzi and a well equipped game room in the garage/poker table that people Hosts parties and/or gatherings here on the lake often as there were weights with balloon ribbon left in the garage from a previous party at the house."
Barrino said the poor treatment of her party was due to the "color of our skin."
"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 old and make him feel special as I have been traveling for the last 35+ days promoting a movie I starred in."
She finished:
"This time, I dare not stay quiet."
On Instagram, Barrino posted photos of what appeared to be the beginning of a fun and memorable birthday party for her son.
In the caption, however, she once again voiced her outrage over having to vacate the property.
"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.”
She continued:
“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.”
You can see the post below.
People on social media expressed their disgust over the incident.
The official X, formerly Twitter, account for Airbnb Help did reply to Barrino's tweet, telling the Grammy winner:
"Airbnb does not condone discrimination in any way."
They included a link to their nondiscrimination policy as well as to their DMs.
Barrino has yet to share if any issues were resolved, but she at least deserves answers!
Do better, Airbnb.
