Ari Lennox performs during the 43rd Annual BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival Opening Night at the Prospect Park Lena Horne Bandshell on July 31, 2021 in New York City.
Roy RochlinAri Lennox has been arrested in Amsterdam after she claims on social media to have been racially profiled in the airport Monday morning (Nov. 29).
Early Monday, Lennox sent out a flurry of tweets about her negative experience with airport security in Amsterdam, writing, “F— Amsterdam security. They hate black people.” In her final tweet, Lennox wrote, “I’m being arrested in Amsterdam for reacting to a woman racially profiling me.”
Dutch military police, who are in charge of security at Amsterdam Schipol airport, told Reuters that the singer (real name Courtney Shanade Salter) was arrested for disturbing public order after accusing airline personnel of racial discrimination. The police said Lennox was held for acting aggressively toward an airline official and for being drunk in public.
“Our unit found a woman full of emotions, that wouldn’t calm down,” spokesman Robert van Kapel told the publication. “That’s why she had to be taken into custody.” It remains unclear how long the “Shea Butter Baby” star will remain in custody since police are still investigating claims of possible threats Lennox made during the incident.
Billboard has reached out to Lennox’s reps for comment but did not hear back at press time.
The R&B singer performed her latest single “Pressure” and “Unloyal” with Summer Walker from the latter’s Billboard 200-topping album Still Over It at the 2021 Soul Train Awards, which was taped at New York’s Apollo Theater on Nov. 20 and was broadcast Sunday night on BET.
See Lennox’s tweets about her arrest below.
The world leader, who has repeatedly faced criticism for featuring songs from artists who do not want their music connected to his political views, shared a viral clip of We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) that focused on the lyric: “Me and my truth we sit in silence.”
The footage shows Trump at a rally while the statement “Men can’t have babies and should never compete in women’s sports” appears on screen.
The Team Trump TikTok account posted the video with the caption: “This shouldn’t be controversial! #trump #arianagrande #maga.”
Ariana responded in a comment that was later removed, saying: “Never use my music again. Also, your truth is false.”
Trump has a well known record of opposing transgender rights, and the US Supreme Court recently ruled that states can prohibit transgender women from taking part in women’s sports. In a 6 to 3 ruling, the justices determined that such laws do not breach Title IX or the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
The decision in June came after several other actions by the Trump administration involving transgender policies. Earlier in May, the Supreme Court also permitted the administration to continue with its “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness” order, which would prevent transgender individuals from serving in the US military.
Ariana’s statement arrived soon after Taylor Swift also took steps to stop Trump from using her music on TikTok. Trump had featured a number of her songs in his social media posts, including a video of him and his wife Lady Melania Trump watching fireworks accompanied by August.
The song was later taken off the post and replaced by a notice that read: “This sound isn’t available.”
Trump appeared to deliberately select Taylor’s track, adding the message: “I’m sure @Taylor Swift is going to be super excited we used her song!”
He also responded to the Team Trump video with: “Mood because it’s August and Donald Trump is your president.”
Other Taylor Swift songs that were removed from Trump’s TikTok content included The Fate of Ophelia and Father Figure.
Trump previously made headlines when he wrote “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on Truth Social after the singer publicly announced that she planned to support Kamala Harris in the previous presidential election.
