“Which monkey is gonna stay on the couch?”: Racist Airbnb host kicked off platform

London, UK - July 31, 2018: The buttons of the travel app Airbnb, surrounded by Amazon, ebay, News and other apps on the screen of an iPhone.

A racist Airbnb host has been booted off the platform after calling a group of guests “criminals” and “monkeys” before kicking them out of her house in the middle of the night.

The woman’s disgusting behaviour was caught on camera in video shared on social media on Sunday before the home sharing company banned her from the platform.

https://twitter.com/Kartoon_1911/status/1134836957190770688

Kenneth Simpson, who captured and shared the incident as it unfolded, revealed that he and a group of friends had reserved an Airbnb in New York City. The Washington Post reported he and three other men had flown from different parts of the country to spend the weekend with a local friend.

Simpson said the Upper East Side townhouse was advertised as an entire-unit rental, but he and his friends realised it was a shared home only when they arrived.

https://twitter.com/Kartoon_1911/status/1134834473869152257

Airbnb responded to the videos late Saturday night:

“The language is unacceptable and has no place in the Airbnb community,” the company tweeted, adding: “We’ve removed the host from our platform and are supporting the guests with a new place to stay.”

Simpson revealed in tweets that Airbnb had given the group of friends a new place to stay. However, the residence was advertised with a fake address. The resulting hassle left the group looking for a place to stay for more than four hours in the middle of the night.

https://twitter.com/Kartoon_1911/status/1135235319870001152

https://twitter.com/Kartoon_1911/status/1135235384621883392

https://twitter.com/Kartoon_1911/status/1135235431933652999

A man identifying himself as the woman’s boyfriend said in a Reddit post, which has since been deleted on the forum and shared by Simpson on Twitter, that the guests were being loud, acting belligerently and had unexpectedly brought their dogs with them.

https://twitter.com/Kartoon_1911/status/1135411639707197440

Video of the exchange shows the woman telling the group the listing states “no pets” and “no party,” with no party seen in any of the coverage.

Simpson said the host had previously allowed them to bring a dog.

Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

airbnb Racism

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