Gary Owens Blasts Delta Airlines for Discriminating Against His Black Wife

Gary Owens Blasts Delta Airlines for Discriminating Against His Wife

Comedian Gary Owens is standing up for his queen. The “Think Like A Man” star took to Instagram to confront Delta Airlines for a recent incident between his wife, Kenya Duke, and a ticket agent.

Gary Owen & Wife

Gary says his wife was unfairly profiled, and questioned about whether or not she was flying first class. In a video, he said:

“So this morning, my wife and daughter were flying from Cincinnati, Ohio to San Francisco, California on Delta. 7:20AM, Gate B21. So they tell everybody to line up for first [class]. So my wife gets in line, and the guy working the gate at B21, Cincinnati Airport asks my wife, ‘Oh, are you in first?’ And my wife said, ‘Yeah, I am.’ And then my wife said, ‘Are you not gonna ask the guy behind me?’ And he goes, ‘No.’ My wife said, ‘Why?’ He said, ‘Cause I don’t feel like it.'”

Gary clearly stated the difference between his wife’s treatment and another fellow passenger:

“Now my wife’s a Black lady. The guy behind her’s a white dude, and the ticket agent was a white dude. But he asked the Black lady, ‘Are you in first?’ But not the white dude. So, Delta – I have almost 3 million miles with you. When you see this lady, that’s my wife. She flies first. Don’t ask.”

He continued to call Delta out in his caption:

“Hey @delta this morning my wife & daughter flew from Cincinnati to San Francisco on the 7:20am direct flight gate B21. Your gate agent asked my wife as she was standing in the priority line if she was in first class. She said yes. My wife is a black woman. So she asks your agent are you not going to ask the man behind me if he is in first? Your agent said NO. My wife asked why? Your agent said “because I don’t want to.” Your ticket agent was a white man the man standing behind my wife was a white man. I have well over 2 million miles on Delta. I know you have a lot of amazing employees that treat ppl with respect & dignity. But what happened this morning was not ok.”

Fellow celebrities rallied behind him, noting that they’ve experienced the same profiling while trying to board flights.

Delta Airlines issued a standard customer service reply to Gary Owens on Twitter, requesting his contact information. Delta tweeted:

“Is there a contact number that she can be reached? Our Care Executive Team would like to reach out to her. HCJ”

Delta Airlines is no stranger to this kind of controversy. As we previously reported, just last year, rapper Wale was threatened to have the police called on him. His crime? Being Black in first class. Wale said:

“How about ur employees Megumi and Don told me “ur not supposed to be in first class I’m calling the police.”

Delta blamed a technical error for his experience while attempting to apologize. Delta Airlines explained:

“When the flight landed [in Los Angeles], he was sitting in his correct seat…but he wasn’t showing on their tablets as being on their aircraft. [The flight attendants] were just trying to figure out why he wasn’t listed on the flight in the first place. His seat was inadvertently dropped in the system when they boarded back…We just want to apologize to Wale for what really occurred here. We understand his frustration; just trying to get out of the airport. He’s a good customer of ours. He flies with us regularly. We really just want to apologize profusely.”

What do you think about Gary Owens’ clapback in defense of his wife?

Written by Miata Shanay