‘More racist’: US celebrity calls out NZ and Aussie customs

Eric Andre alleges he was “racially profiled” at Melbourne Airport. Screenshot / @EricAndreTours
Actor and comedian Eric Andre has claimed he was racially profiled when travelling through Melbourne Airport.
The Emmy-nominated host of The Eric Andre Show said in a video on Instagram on Monday he had been travelling for work when he was stopped at the airport by officials.
He also called out New Zealand’s Customs Service in a video shared on Facebook, which is slightly longer than the one posted on Instagram.
“The only thing more racist than American Customs is Australian and New Zealand Customs,” he said in the Facebook reel.
He continued: “I got detained,” Andre, 41, said in the video he shared to Instagram for his followers.
“I got pulled out of a line-up and put in a special line in Melbourne, where I was sniffed thoroughly by a dog.”
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The TV star had been travelling by plane for 25 hours, from New York to Los Angeles and on to Melbourne and Brisbane.
“It’s one of the many times I’ve been racially profiled at the airport,” Andre claimed as he warned his non-white followers: “So this is a message for all black, brown and indigenous people travelling through Melbourne today, especially if you’re travelling Qantas International by Terminal 2, please be careful. They are searching black, brown and indigenous people.”
Andre said he hoped to find a lawyer in Australia to handle a discrimination case regarding how many people of colour and white people are stopped and told to go in the “dog-sniffing line”.
Andre then requested anyone hiring him for any future appearances in Australia not make him go through Melbourne Airport alone and provide him with an escort.
“Please provide a police escort or some type of security escort for me or have me fly into Brisbane or Sydney directly,” Andre said.
“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 not accepted 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. I’d love to dig up the statistics on what is coming out of that programme.”
He added: “It has nothing to do with safety. It has everything to do with racial harassment.”
Fans rushed to comment on Andre’s allegations, with many sharing their support for the star and backing up his experience.
“This isn’t just Melbourne. It’s all Australian airports,” alleged one. “I’ve watched it happen so many times it’s disturbing.”
“F*** that! That’s why I don’t fly much anymore,” remarked another.
Following Andre’s claims, a spokesman for Melbourne Airport insisted in the comments to his video the organisation “does not tolerate” racism.
“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,” the comment read.
“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.”
– Additional reporting by NZ Herald