This is Michaela Coel, she's a pretty big deal.
The BAFTA Award-winning writer and star of the critically acclaimed 'Chewing Gum' rose to fame in 2015, and has since gone on to act in a number of well-received projects.
Appearing in two episodes of Netflix's tech-horror series 'Black Mirror', Michaela's became the face that launched a thousand memes, when a picture of her character in 'USS Callister' was paired up with various relatable captions.
With Netflix musical 'Been So Long' and international war crimes drama 'Black Earth Rising' on the way, the British-Ghanaian actress is going from strength to strength. However, this didn't insulate her from certain attitudes recently.
Over Twitter, the actress and writer claimed that a passenger on her Virgin Atlantic flight had assumed she was a flight attend - despite her profile and the fact that she wasn't even wearing the uniform!
Congratulations to Virgin Atlantic passengers once again!
— Michaela Coel (@MichaelaCoel) May 15, 2018
A lady just confused me for a hostess and asked me to clean up her mess and increase the flight temp.
What I’m wearing... what the staff are wearing. pic.twitter.com/MXcQr6tQDs
Of course, people were not impressed. The episode prompted many black people and people of color to reveal their experiences of being mistaken for staff while simply trying to live their lives.
I was at a conference for start up and my company was one of the start -ups. I wore a black suit with a peach blouse and I cannot tell you how many times I was asked to get water and help get coffee. I will never wear a black suit again to an event!
— My Active Senior (@myactivesenior) May 16, 2018
My daughter and i can't wear red to Target
— Linda Rhodes (@bubbalillie) May 15, 2018
Sis, lady in the bathroom asked me if i was the toilet attendant. I was the cabaret host for the show she had paid £££ to see...
— Sadie Sinner 🇿🇲 (@SadieSinner) May 15, 2018
I made sure to say "hi" from the stage. #AllBlackPeopleAreStaff
Some, like Michaela, were not even wearing the same color as the staff and yet were still marked out.
I went into the craft store wearing multicolor nursing scrubs and someone had the audacity to ask if I worked there. The staff wears bright red polos. I nothing like my scrubs.
— Cristhal (@cmfuertes) May 16, 2018
Not even Barack Obama was immune to this!
Reminds me of when Pres Obama was a Senator at a fundraiser and someone asked him to bring her a drink. PITIFUL 🤬🤬🤬
— who?, what? (@pannlewis44) May 15, 2018
Virgin Atlantic has not yet publicly responded to the incident. Michaela Coel did once play an airline worker on 'Black Mirror'. Someone joked about this.
— Mo (@moeliyah_) May 15, 2018
This is probably the reason. Can't seperate fact from fiction. ha hah a
— Dolores (@DeloresDeeDee) May 15, 2018
At least there's a small funny side to it!
Has anything like this happened to you? Should Virgin respond to the incident?
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