A British rapper has accused Airbnb of cancelling his booking because the host had an issue with ‘coloured folk and felt uncomfortable.’
Grime artist Jermaine Sinclair, better known by his stage name Wretch 32, has claimed the property rental company did not honour a reservation he made.
The 34-year-old tweeted: ‘Imagine @Airbnb_uk cancelled my booking, stole half my money because the host had an issue with ‘Coloured folk & felt uncomfortable’ I’ve heard of birthday beats but not birthday teefs.’
Wretch 32, pictured performing at Reading Festival in 2018, claims the property rental company did not honour a booking because the host had an issue with ‘coloured folk & felt uncomfortable’
Wretch 32 tweets Airbnb with a complaint about a cancelled reservation. It appears to have happened on his birthday
Social media users reacted with fury with many calling the decision ‘disgraceful’ and called for Airbnb to remove the host from its website.
One person said: ‘That’s disgraceful! @Airbnb_uk give at least the money back and booking voucher!!!’
While another person said: ‘I hope you can offer a full refund and remove the host from your site.’
Airbnb was founded in 2008 and allows people to book homes or flats from ordinary people looking to make some extra money.
Hosts and guests can then write reviews about each other, which can then be seen on the property’s page.
The room letting website responded to the rap artist, who is from North London, on Twitter.
A tweet posted by Airbnb Help said: ‘Airbnb does not condone discrimination in any way.
‘Please see our policy here (link). Please DM the full name, phone number, and email address on your account so we can follow-up and connect you with our dedicated team.’
A spokesman for Airbnb said: ‘We were concerned to hear about this experience and have reached out to Wretch32 and his management to learn more.
‘Discrimination has no place on Airbnb and goes against everything our community stands for.’
