Comedian Eric André Says He Was Racially Profiled at Melbourne Airport

Eric André says he was ‘racially profiled’ while traveling through Melbourne Airport in Australia.

On Sunday, Aug. 18, the Emmy-nominated comedian behind The Eric Andre Show, 41, shared an Instagram video where he revealed he’d just wrapped a 25-hour trip involving stops in Los Angeles, Melbourne and Brisbane, Australia for a shoot.

During his stop in Melbourne, however, André said he was “detained” and “pulled out of a lineup and put in a special line,” where he was “sniffed thoroughly by a dog.”

“Those dogs are pretty much ineffective,” he said, later adding, “It’s one of the many times I’ve been racially profiled at the airport. So this is a message for all Black, brown and Indigenous people traveling through Melbourne today, especially if you’re traveling through Qantas International by Terminal 2: Please be careful.”

“They are searching Black, brown and Indigenous people,” André added. “Please let me know if anybody knows the names of those officers with the dogs or what that program is. If anybody has information on a discrimination Australian lawyer, I’m all ears.”

Later in his video message, André — who previously said he was racially profiled at the Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport in 2021 and later took legal action — also asked his followers if they could send him statistics on how many “people of color they put into this dog-sniffing line” in comparison to white passengers.

“Anybody hiring me to work in Australia going forward, whether it’s a production or a tour, please don’t make me go through the Melbourne Airport alone,” André said. “Please provide a police escort or some type of security escort for me, or have me fly into Brisbane or Sydney directly. I do not feel safe in the Melbourne Airport. I do not want to be humiliated or racially discriminated against anymore at these airports.”

“I don’t want to cut my hair and wear a three-piece suit so that I’m treated like a first-class citizen,” he continued. “I shouldn’t be made to feel that I am unaccepted by entering a country. Shame on the people at the Melbourne Airport that have this cockamamie procedure. I doubt it yields any safer world for anybody in Melbourne or Australia.”

Melbourne Airport’s Instagram account left a comment under André’s post just hours after he shared it, with a message addressed to “Eric” in which it said it “does not tolerate racism in any form.”

“We are following up your complaint with the Australian Border Force (ABF) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) who are in charge of processing all international arrivals at Melbourne Airport and other Australian international gateways,” the response read. “Melbourne Airport is proudly the gateway to one of the most multicultural cities in the world. We welcome ALL passengers to Melbourne, and we expect everyone to be treated equally.”

Melbourne Airport and Qantas did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional comment on Monday.

At the end of his video, which is previewed on his account with a picture of a dog in the airport, André again asked his followers for more information on the program, which he called a “Giuliani stop-and-frisk-esque nonsense program.” He also called the program “unethical” and “less safe” for Black, brown and Indigenous airline passengers.

“It has nothing to do with safety,” André said. “It has everything to do with racial harassment.”