South African opera star Pretty Yende was not happy at being singled out by airport customs officials and “strip-searched like a criminal” when she arrived in Paris on Tuesday.
Yende complained on social media about how she was “stripped and searched like a criminal offender” at the Charles de Gaulle airport.
The 36-year-old soprano detailed her ordeal on Instagram saying she has suffered “outrageous racial discrimination” at the hands of French customs officers.
“Police brutality is real for someone who looks like me,” said Yende, who is in booked in Paris for several performances.
The AFP is reporting that a French police source said the singer had arrived from Milan on a South African passport without a visa.
The opera star was released an hour and a half later with a visa allowing her to enter France.
The AFP says airport officials denied Yende, who has performed in Vienna and Los Angeles, was singled out for her complexion and strip-searched.
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