A staged video titled "Racial Profiling Experiment'" uploaded on Saleh's YouTube channel in October 2014 became viral around the world. In the video Saleh and Sheikh Akbar argued with each other in front of a police officer wearing western outfits but the cop ignored them. Shortly thereafter, they fight again while dressed in Muslim clothes but this time the cop stops them and behaves rudely with them. The video received more than 200,000 views on YouTube and it was also picked up by media. Public reaction to the video was against the police officer. Later Saleh admitted that the video was staged to recreate "previous events that occurred".[11] The New York chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), which had previously tweeted out the video as an example of discrimination against Muslims, demanded an apology from Saleh and Akbar stating "Muslims are already under the microscope and to do this just to gain some cheap publicity is totally unacceptable. There should be no attempt to justify it; they should just apologize and ask people to forgive them for their irresponsible actions."[12]
In another YouTube video, Saleh claimed to have flown inside a suitcase in the baggage hold on a Tigerair flight from Melbourne to Sydney.[13] However, Melbourne Airport security footage proved the incident was a hoax.
In December 2016, Saleh posted videos in which he claimed he was removed from a Delta Air Lines flight at Heathrow Airport for speaking Arabic.[14] However, other passengers have spoken out, claiming that Saleh was disturbing other passengers,[15][16][17] and Delta's own statement said that Saleh was shouting and provoking others.[3] Saleh's claim has caused a debate over the "Right to Fly".[18]
However, some passengers on the plane have cast doubt into Saleh's version of what happened before he was kicked off the flight, and Delta said in a statement that, after speaking to several passengers, Saleh and his friend appeared to have sparked the entire incident.
Many social media users have also expressed skepticism because Saleh is best known for posting "prank" videos involving airlines. In his most recent one, he pretended to have "sent" himself to another country.
In a statement issued Wednesday afternoon, Delta Airlines said Saleh and the others removed from the flight appeared to have "sought to disrupt the cabin with provocative behavior," suggesting the entire event may have been staged.