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VIDEO: Sha’carri Richardson Kicked Off Flight

VIDEO: Sha’carri Richardson Kicked Off Flight

VIDEO: Sha’carri Richardson Kicked Off Flight
INSTAGRAM CARRIERICHARDSON_,/MIKE STOBE/GETTY IMAGES

The track and field star later posted videos showing her at odds with a flight attendant and irate passengers.

American track and field star Sha’carri Richardson was ejected from an American Airlines plane on Saturday after arguing with a flight attendant over her cell phone.

Richardson, 23, later posted videos of the incident to social media. She speculated about a possible lawsuit against the airlines and accused the male flight attendant she identified as John of threatening and harassing behavior.

“Tell me if I’ll be wrong to pursue legal actions against the airline,” Richardson posted to her social media. “Not only did the man threaten me but also an innocent bystander who simply just wanted a picture with me.”

American Airlines confirmed the incident in a statement to NBC News, saying they “reaccomodated the customer on a later flight” and were investigating the incident, but provided few other details.

The first self-recorded video shows Richardson stroking her braids and fiddling with her face mask.

“Sorry, not working,” Richardson says in the video. “Vacation time.”

As the camera pans, a male flight attendant appears in the video.

“I’m recording me but you jumped in my video, so I caught you, because you jumped in my video,” Richardson says to the flight attendant who can be heard repeatedly telling the track star she can’t record video. “You’re harassing me at this point, so I think you should stop. I think you should stop.”

Richardson also can be seen engaging with other passengers, most of whom appeared annoyed with the track star.

“Y’all see him right? Y’all see him right? Y’all see him right? I’m sorry, it’s not me,” Richardson says in the video, turning to speak with a passenger. “Talk to him. No ma’am. Do not talk to me like that. I’m an adult. Do not talk to me like that. Do not talk to me like that. Tell him to stop. If you do not know what’s going on, do not yell at me.”

In a second video posted to social media, Richardson can be heard speaking with an unidentified person off-camera, saying the flight attendant put his hands in her face and that she would have followed his instructions if he had not been so “very unprofessional” to her.

“Thank you, by the way, I’m going to miss my connection,” an unidentified man says to Richardson in the same video. “I have to now get off the plane.”

“Oh, so you’re worried about a connection when a grown man is disrespecting me?” Richardson says in response.

“I don’t give a sh*t,” the passenger replies.

Last July, Richardson accepted a one-month suspension after she tested positive for THC following her win in the women’s 100-meter event at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon the month prior. She had won the race with a time of 10.86, earning her a spot on the U.S. team where she had been among the favorites to take home the gold at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

“I want to take responsibility for my actions,” she said on Todayshortly after the suspension. “I know what I did. I know what I'm supposed to do, [what] I'm allowed not to do and I still made that decision, but not making an excuse or looking for any empathy in my case.”

Richardson revealed the death of her mother played heavily in her recent decision-making, describing the loss as “one of the biggest things that impacted me” and how difficult it was to “put on a face and have to go out in front of people.”

Following the victory in Eugene, Richardson revealed she had a girlfriend when giving credit for her latest hair style.

“My girlfriend actually picked my color,” Richardson told USA Todayat the time. “She said it like spoke to her, the fact that it was just so loud and vibrant, and that’s who I am.”

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Donald Padgett

Managing Editor at OutTraveler. Also write for Out, The Advocate, and Plus magazines.

Managing Editor at OutTraveler. Also write for Out, The Advocate, and Plus magazines.