Lil Pump, the Donald Trump-backing rapper, has been banned from flying on JetBlue airways for reportedly refusing to wear a mask during a flight on Sunday.
The 20-year-old “Gucci Gang” singer "became verbally abusive with crew members” after he was asked multiple times to follow the airline’s face covering policy and he refused to comply, JetBlue confirmed to USA Today without naming the rapper.
"His return reservation was cancelled and he is no longer welcome to fly on JetBlue," company spokesperson Derek Dombrowski said. "The safety of all customers and crew members is JetBlue’s first priority."
Lil Pump, who was nominated for best new artist at the VMAs in 2018, later took to Instagram to slam the airline and said: “All of 2020, ’21, I ain’t wearing no mask. I ain’t gotta wear no f******g mask, b***h. Corona’s fake. Bye.” The video was later deleted.
The rapper was supposed to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles.
Lil Pump, whose real name is Gazzy Garcia, surprised many when he appeared with Donald Trump at his final campaign rally in Michigan and announced that he would be voting for the Republican. It was during that appearance that Mr Trump called him “Lil Pimp” before correcting himself.
Since then, the right-leaning rapper has been taking on people with conflicting political affiliations, with the latest target being Eminem.
“F**k Eminem. You is lame as hell, ain't nobody listening to your old ass,” the rapper said in an Instagram story without any apparent provocation. “You lame as f**k, b***h! I woke up on bulls**t today, I'm back on my f**k s**t.”
This is not the first time the rapper had a run-in with an airline. In 2018, he was stopped from taking a flight after a complaint that his baggage smelled with a “strong odour of weed”, and he was held for inappropriate conduct with staff.
JetBlue was among the first airlines to impose pandemic-related policies, requiring those aged two and older to mask up during flights, check-in and boarding from 4 May.
