Rapper Chika made the news over the weekend for her reaction to children being loud on a flight. The 26-year-old went on a Twitter rant and immediately received backlash for her comments.
“The lady next to me who thought it would be a good idea to buy yourself and your twin infants first class seats on a red-eye flight, who just woke me up by bringing your screaming bastard to OUR seats to soothe her,” she wrote in since-deleted tweets, XXL reported. “I just bought $34 WiFi at 4 a.m. to call you a stupid b***h.”
“P.S., I hate you, and I hope you get a paper cut between each finger tomorrow, you senseless wench,” she wrote, insulting the mother.
The following day, Chika apologized for her reaction.
“Posting because I think it’s important & because I understand that people who actually do want to support me were also offended by my inflammatory thread yesterday,” she tweeted, according to XXL. “I’m sorry cuz it was triggering/infuriating to many. I just don’t like being seen as someone I’m not.”
One child’s mother was Zonnique Pullins, T.I. and Tiny’s daughter. As a response, she posted a video of her daughter sitting in first class and watching a show with their headphones on.
wait I’m in tearssss not chika boo was mad my child was cutting up in first class😭😭😭😭 you should of just sat there and been mad babe..she sky priority af🤭 pic.twitter.com/PJpGE3zRUU
— baby spice (@Zonnique) June 3, 2023
“Wait I’m in tearssss not chika boo was mad my child was cutting up in first class,” she tweeted. “You should have just sat there and been mad babe..she sky priority af.”
According to XXL, one of the children is related to Zonnique’s child. The mother, Tamara Zackery, addressed the situation on Instagram. She acknowledged that loud children on a flight could bother some passengers and called for more understanding of parents who can’t contain their child’s every move. Zackery also called out Chika for using insults to refer to children.
“I know people hate when kids cry on a flight I can’t deny sometimes I do a little switch and turn and cut up the volume,” she wrote. “I truly thought an overnight flight would be the best being the girls would sleep straight through it after wearing them out, and honestly it worked until my 2yr old niece woke up startled in pure darkness, forgetting where she was.”
“I comforted her, kissed her, and rocked her back to sleep,” she added. “It may have looked like a bit of a struggle cause I’m also 5 months pregnant. Bystanders never give concern to the mom who is actually having to deal with the crying baby while worrying about they grown ass too. It’s really the worst feeling and than this b-tch who was never even supposed to be sitting next to me goes on her phone and rants and calls my niece a bastard and a little b-tch.”
“I can’t wait to see this h-e on the next first class,” she wrote. “Just cause they kids don’t mean they don’t deserve to fly first class too!”
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Chika later addressed the backlash on Instagram.
“Stay mad. Being upset at a person ranting about an annoying baby that woke them up at 4 a.m. is a cute way to make you feel like you’re morally superior to someone. You’re literally not,” she wrote in an Instagram Story, according to XXL. “Like I been saying, I wasn’t rude to her and that what I’m good with. I have the decency to be mad externally somewhere else. My only mistake was doing it on Twitter. I don’t feel bad cuz the response is disproportionate to the mistake. But like… do ur thing, internet. Y’all already ain’t like me this ain’t nothing new.”
Chika added she was experiencing a manic episode during the flight. She has since made her Twitter account private. In 2021, she announced she would retire from music because of her mental health.