Shilpa Shetty faces racism at Sydney airport

Actress and entrepreneur Shilpa Shetty Kundra has alleged that she was treated discourteously by a Qantas Airways staff member at Sydney airport and suggested that her experience may have been linked to her being “brown”.

The actress said the incident took place while she was preparing to board a flight from Sydney to Melbourne. She was travelling in business class and had two cabin bags, which she said were within her permitted baggage allowance.

According to Shilpa, a female staff member at the check-in counter, whom she identified as “Mel”, told her that a half-empty duffel bag was oversized and directed her to another counter for oversized baggage.

Shilpa said another Qantas employee at that counter took a different view and told her that the bag did not appear to be oversized. The staff member reportedly suggested that it could be checked in manually at another counter.

The actress said the manual check-in process failed to go through for several minutes, leaving her with little time before the counter closed. She then returned to the first employee and asked her to process the bag, citing the opinion of her colleague.

According to Shilpa, the employee initially refused again. With time running short, she and her companions eventually went to the oversized baggage counter, where the bag was accepted after she complained about the earlier interaction.

She said another member of staff also confirmed that the duffel bag was not oversized and could have been checked in without the earlier difficulty.

Upset by the incident, Shilpa later shared her account on Instagram. She said she wanted Qantas Airways to take note of the behaviour of its staff and stressed that passengers should be treated respectfully regardless of their skin colour or background.

Her comments also drew attention to her previous experience with racism. In 2007, while participating in the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother, Shilpa became the centre of a major controversy over alleged racist bullying by fellow contestants. She ultimately won the fifth season.

In her latest post, Shilpa said her concern was not simply about the baggage issue but about the manner in which she felt she was treated. She argued that airline employees should remain professional and helpful when dealing with passengers.

She also posted a photograph of the disputed duffel bag and asked her followers whether they considered it oversized.

The incident highlights how seemingly routine disputes over airline baggage can become more sensitive when passengers feel they are being treated differently because of their race or ethnicity. Shilpa's public complaint is likely to put the focus on how airlines train frontline staff to handle such situations consistently and respectfully.