ROCK STAR COURTNEY Love got caught up in an anti-Uber protest by Paris taxi-drivers earlier today, claiming she was held hostage at the airport.
In a series of posts to Instagram, the 50-year-old singer documented “the scariest day of [her] life”, which started with being egged, and ended in a daring motorbike escape and serious scolding of French President Francois Hollande.
courtneylove / Instagram
Love added on Twitter that the rental car’s tires were slashed by protesters, and she was blocked in at the airport.
She managed to “pay some guys” to sneak her and her assistant out on motorbikes, while being chased by angry, rock-throwing taxi-drivers, as police “did nothing.”
After arriving in the capital, Love posted this photo, saying she was “scared out of [her] wits,” and turning her anger towards Hollande:
I can’t believe this really just happened. Love French people but your government blows.
courtneylove / Instagram
Love then turned up the heat on Monsieur Le Président de la République, ordering him out to the airport to sort out the mess:
Love hasn’t received the warmest of responses to her tirade from the French public, with many on Twitter taking particular offence to her claim that she’d be “safer in Baghdad.”
“Someone should remind Courtney Love that in her country police confuse their tasers with their guns,” said one.
“Apparently the United States is a haven of peace,” said another.
Others were a little more cruel, saying “At least today has reminded us that Courtney Love is still alive.”
“I was attacked once by a Courtney Love CD. I moaned about it, but I didn’t file charges or call out the president.”
Elsewhere in France, taxi-drivers throughout the country set fire to cars, blocked entry and exit from airports and train stations, caused traffic chaos, and riot police were deployed in several cities.
Taxi drivers complain that services like Uber unfairly undercut them, and in recent weeks nearly 100 Uber drivers have been attacked, sometimes while carrying customers.
One irritated taxi passenger was left with a broken face and black eye after he praised Uber.
Contains additional reporting by the Associated Press.
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