An Airbnb North Carolina host was banned Wednesday after he sent a tirade of racist comments to a potential guest.
Looking for temporary stay while she completed office training for her job relocation, the guest was sent messages by host Todd Warner threatening to cancel her reservation. The screenshots of the encounter were shared on Twitter by her peer, Shani Taylor.
My friend and classmate here at Kellogg had a hateful and racist encounter with an @Airbnb host. pic.twitter.com/rFHlwqy5sQ
— Shani C. Taylor (@shanictaylor) May 31, 2016
Lawsuit Filed Against Airbnb for Discrimination Towards Black Guests
A representative from Airbnb responded to Taylor’s tweets, expressing that such behavior was not condoned by the company.
@shanictaylor Hi Shani, Airbnb does not condone discrimination in any way. We take this seriously. We have 1/3
— Airbnb Help (@AirbnbHelp) June 1, 2016
@shanictaylor located the reservation and have emailed the account holder. Kindly see our 2/3
— Airbnb Help (@AirbnbHelp) June 1, 2016
@shanictaylor policy here: https://t.co/8OZ8baXAxy Please also DM us more info if you have any. Thank you 3/3
— Airbnb Help (@AirbnbHelp) June 1, 2016
@shanictaylor We have followed up here but cannot share the outcome for privacy reasons. We take this issue seriously 1/2
— Airbnb Help (@AirbnbHelp) June 1, 2016
@shanictaylor and do not tolerate discrimination on Airbnb 2/2
— Airbnb Help (@AirbnbHelp) June 1, 2016
“We were horrified when we read these messages,” Nick Papas, Airbnb spokesperson, told USA Today. “The language and conduct are unacceptable and violate both our policies and everything we believe in. This host has been removed from Airbnb and we’ve reached out to the guest to offer our full and complete support, including ensuring the guest has a safe place to stay.”
Co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky, also tweeted,
The incident in NC was disturbing and unacceptable. Racism and discrimination have no place on Airbnb. We have permanently banned this host.
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) June 1, 2016
The incident comes shortly after the lawsuit filed against Airbnb for allegedly violating the Fair Housing Act.
WANT MORE FROM ESSENCE? Subscribe to our daily newsletter for the latest in hair, beauty, style and celebrity news.