Adam Saleh is a YouTube personality with over a million followers. Today, he claimed he was removed from a Delta Airlines flight for speaking Arabic.
Saleh has a history of creating hoaxes, many of them in order to portray Muslims as victims of discrimination.
The facts are still coming in, but it’s appearing that this at best was a deliberate over-reaction by Saleh for the camera, or at worst an outright hoax he created from the start as he has done before. Either way, Saleh achieved another round of viral video fame, and his video on Twitter has been shared several hundred thousand times.
Here’s the tweet. Look at the number of retweets:
(LANGUAGE WARNING)
Saleh’s story, however, already is being challenged. Law Newz reports:
Delta Concludes From Multiple Witnesses That YouTube Prankster Was Actually Shouting, DisruptiveSo you know that video that went viral that allegedly showed Delta kicking off a passenger for speaking Arabic? Well, apparently, Delta investigated the situation, and now says it’s not quite what it all seemed. In a statement obtained by LawNewz.com, the airline said that after collecting statements from “multiple passengers,” they have concluded that YouTube star Adam Saleh, and his travel mate, were actually trying to disrupt the plane with “provocative behavior,” and were shouting.Adam Saleh, who has more than 1.6 million YouTube subscribers, posted a video on Twitter that claimed that passengers complained of feeling “uncomfortable” after he spoke to his mom in Arabic and he was subsequently escorted off the plane. “WTFFFFF,” he wrote on Twitter after getting kicked off the London-to-New York flight. He urged others to spread the word and #BoycottDelta. This video has been retweeted more than 600,000 times.
Delta disputes Saleh’s version of the story. CBS News reports:
Delta defends ousting YouTube star Adam Saleh from flightDelta Airlines is defending removing YouTube celebrity Adam Saleh, whose prank videos have garnered him a significant online following, from a flight Wednesday.Saleh said earlier Wednesday that he was removed from the flight because he spoke Arabic to his mom on the phone before takeoff.“I speak to my mom on the phone every flight,” Saleh told CBSN shortly after video he posted on Twitter showing his removal went viral. “She only speaks Arabic.”But according to a Delta, Saleh sought to disrupt the cabin.In statement to CBS News Delta said:“Upon landing the crew was debriefed and multiple passenger statements collected. Based on the information collected to date, it appears the customers who were removed sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior, including shouting. This type of conduct is not welcome on any Delta flight. While one, according to media reports, is a known prankster who was video recorded and encouraged by his traveling companion, what is paramount to Delta is the safety and comfort of our passengers and employees. It is clear these individuals sought to violate that priority.”
Here’s the related video report in which Saleh paints himself as a victim of racism:
However, if you go further into the CBS News report, you see this:
Saleh has a history of posting staged videos designed to look like the real thing, including an infamously faked viral video that alleged to have shown anti-Muslim bias from the NYPD.In 2014, Saleh’s video “RACIAL PROFILING EXPERIMENT!” showed him and friend staging a fight twice in front of an alleged police officer, once in Western street clothes, and once in Muslim clothes. The Smoking Gun revealed the hoax relatively quickly, but two years later, as of Wednesday morning, Saleh still does not indicate that the video was staged in its description.In February 2016, Saleh posted a video of a self-described “social experiment” in which he counts down from 10 in Arabic aboard a plane.Just last week, Saleh was called out for faking a video allegedly showing him sneaking onto a flight inside a suitcase.
Hoaxes on planes, particularly about speaking Arabic, seem to be his thing:
Not only has Saleh pulled past hoaxes, he’s also a 9/11 and Boston Marathon Bombing truther:
Here are some related tweets:
Sure it’s just coincidence that he starts his Middle East tour next month:
Featured image via YouTube.
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