A Grammy-nominated gospel singer shared a video of herself nearly getting kicked off of a Delta Airlines flight for arguing with a flight attendant before launching into a performance of her new single.
The video had some online observers calling Bobbi Storm “egotistical” and suggesting she should be on a “no fly list,” while others said the flight attendant was in the wrong.
The video begins with Storm standing in the centre aisle of the plane telling a flight attendant that she is charting on Billboard. He asks her to sit down and be quiet. Storm raises her hands and backs away, saying she isn’t making a disturbance.
The singer takes her seat but immediately turns to address the passengers seated around her.
“Watch me bless him,” she says, appearing to refer to the flight attendant. She also mentions that she “used to sing on planes a long time ago.”
“I just found out I’m up for two Grammys,” Storm tells the passengers. “My very first time, you guys.”
People around her start applauding and Storm adds that she sings “for the Lord.”
Storm is not individually nominated for a Grammy, but she is featured on the album The Maverick Way by Maverick City Music, which is nominated for Best Gospel Album this year. Storm is featured on the songs Firm Foundation (He’s Gonna Make a Way) and Nobody Greater.
Maverick City Music was nominated for a second Grammy this year for God Problems, though Storm is not listed in the credits of this song. She tells the passengers that her new single We Can’t Forget Him is out “on all platforms” and she wants to “share” her new song with them when the flight attendant from earlier cuts her off.
“Are you going to be quiet?” he asks.
“But they’re enjoying it, so while we’re sitting here could I please—,” she says before being cut off again.
“I’m not enjoying it. So I’m asking you, can you be quiet?” the flight attendant asks.
Storm tells him that she’s doing what the Lord is telling her to do but the flight attendant says that he is her “flight leader” and he needs her to “follow my instructions.”
“Are you able to be quiet right now?” he asks again.
“What do you guys think?” Storms asks the passengers.
“I’m asking you ma’am,” the flight attendant says.
Storm repeats her question to the passengers and the flight attendant counters by threatening to have her removed from the flight.
“OK, if you are not able to follow my instructions you will not be taking this flight,” he says.
Storm acquiesces and says “if that’s the case then that’s fine.”
In the footage, the flight attendant walks off and Storm begins telling the passengers about her new song again.
She then launches into a performance of the song, starting out hushed before singing louder and louder.
After about a minute, she concludes the brief concert to sparse applause.
In the comments of her own video, Storm wrote that she has sang on over 50 flights with no issue and maintains that she broke no laws.
While some defended her actions, most of the online reactions to Storm’s video have been negative.
“This is one of the most egotistical things I’ve ever seen. You think because you’re Grammy nominated that rules don’t apply to you and the plane is your stage?” one person commented.
“YOU are the one who should be reported. That man was doing his job and people on the flight paid to fly in peace,” another wrote.
In a follow-up video, Storm claims that a Delta Airlines executive reached out to apologize to her for how she was treated on the flight, but doesn’t provide any evidence. She tells her fans that she doesn’t want to see the flight attendant reprimanded or lose his job.
“I simply want us to keep in mind how to treat each other,” she says. “It was just me spreading my joy with people.”
Global News has reached out to Delta Airlines for comment.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
