Eric André says he was racially profiled at Australian airport

Comedian and actor Eric André opened up this week about what he describes as being racially profiled at an airport in Australia.

In a video posted on Instagram Monday, André, 41, says the incident occurred during a 25-hour trip from New York City to Brisbane, Australia, that included stops in Los Angeles and Melbourne.

At Melbourne Airport, he was “put in a special line” in which he was “sniffed thoroughly by a dog.”

“It’s one of the many times I’ve been racially profiled at the airport,” André said. “So, this is a message for all Black, brown, and Indigenous people traveling through Melbourne today, especially if you’re traveling through Qantas International by Terminal 2: Please be careful.”

He also asked viewers for assistance with finding an anti-discrimination attorney in the country and for anyone who hires him Down Under to provide a security detail.

“I do not want to be humiliated or racially discriminated against anymore at these airports,” André said. “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.”

“It has nothing to do with safety,” he said. “It has everything to do with racial harassment.”

Melbourne Airport said it immediately launched an investigation into the complaint and investigators had responded to André, according to The Guardian.

André previously filed a lawsuit against police in 2021 after he was stopped at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and asked if he was carrying drugs. That case remains unresolved.