US rap star Busta Rhymes, whose real name is Trevor George Smith Jr., was met by Metropolitan Police officers after his British Airways flight from New York City to London landed at Heathrow Airport. A fellow passenger asked for the police escort after a heated argument started by the hip-hopper just before the plane took off from JFK airport, the Daily Mail reports, citing one of the passengers.
According to the unnamed passenger, the rapper saw that one of his fellow business class passengers had put luggage in his section of the overhead baggage compartment when he arrived on the plane and demanded to know whose stuff it was, “ranting and raving, getting really angry”. When one of the passengers, a woman from London in her late 20s, stood up, he did not only tell her to move her stuff but “began shouting and behaving extremely aggressively”. The woman began crying, which spurred her husband to intervene in the matter.
“As she got more and more tearful, her husband, who is British and works in London as a trader, intervened and told him he needn't be so rude to his wife. He said that he was upsetting her when she was clearly happy to move her things. The husband was trying to diffuse the situation, to which Busta replied, 'Let's go homeboy’”, the witness told the British outlet, noting that other passengers and the airline staff stepped in.
The crew talked to the celebrity passenger and let him stay on board. Busta Rhymes, however, allegedly told another passenger “I'm sure we will clear this up in London” when he returned to his seat. The captain suggested that, if they wish, passengers could leave the plane and head to London on a later flight. One even remarked that “Busta was the only person behaving aggressively”, so the rapper spoke out and tried to justify his behavior.
“He explained that he had a ‘hard life’ and that he wasn't trying to threaten the passenger with violence, instead claiming that he just wanted to talk to him to sort out the issue once they had landed”, the informant said.
According to the media, there was no further trouble before the plane landed. Nevertheless, Busta Rhymes was still escorted off the plane by the police.
“Officers at Heathrow were requested by the airline of an inbound plane to Heathrow Airport from the US to attend following an alleged verbal altercation involving several passengers… There were no reported injuries, and no offences disclosed”, the Metropolitan Police commented on the incident, noting that the involved travellers “proceeded with their journeys”.
The rapper has made no statement, concerning the reports, on his social media.
