JetBlue Fires Employee Over Jamaica “Kidnapping” Drama

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Feb. 17, 2021: A quarantined JetBlue employee, who had taken to Instagram Live to falsely portray the image that she was kidnapped in Jamaica, has been fired.

The airline said it fired Kalina Collier Tuesday. Collier, an American, had tested positive for the coronavirus and was undergoing mandatory quarantine room at the Ocean Coral Spring in Jamaica before being allowed to fly back to the U.S. where everyone entering the country is required to show a negative COVID-19 test.

But she took to Instagram to suggest she was being held in a hotel room on the island against her will, which resulted in the hashtag #FindKalinaCollier to go viral.

She also falsely claimed that she was being filmed by several cameras in a hotel room – the devices were actually sprinklers.

The island’s minister of tourism was forced to make a public announcement about the matter and disclose that Collier had actually tested positive for the coronavirus and was undergoing mandatory quarantine.

The airline, meanwhile, also issued an apology to the Jamaican people and government for the “concern and frustration” the incident with Collier caused.

Collier, meanwhile, is back in the US and has returned to Instagram after reportedly removing the initial videos she posted to the platform from her hotel room. She maintains that she was negative for COVID but specifies that she was “never missing or kidnapped.”