The US has apologized to Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan after he was stopped for an hour and a half by Homeland Security agents at a suburban New York airport. Khan was stopped after his flight landed at the airport in White Plains, N.Y. Thursday. He was en route to deliver a lecture at Yale University. He recounted the experience in the lecture. Media reports said the lecture was delayed by several hours because of the incident. He said, “Whenever I start feeling too arrogant about myself, I always make a trip to America.” The actor added: “The immigration guys kick the star out of stardom.” US Embassy spokesman Peter Vrooman apologized “for any inconvenience.” India Friday lodged a diplomatic complaint with the United States after Shah Rukh Khan said he was detained by US airport immigration officials for 90 minutes. Khan, 46, who was traveling in a private plane to deliver a speech at Yale University, said he was held by officials at New York's White Plains airport. “The next time I'm gonna be more adventurous. What color are you? I'm gonna say white,” Khan said. It's not the first time Khan has complained of being targeted in the United States. In 2009, the Indian cinema legend was detained for two hours at Newark airport in New York, suggesting then that he was singled out as a Muslim. He was released after the intervention of the US embassy. That incident came shortly after Fox Star Studios struck a deal to finance and distribute the film “My Name is Khan”, starring Khan as an Indian Muslim setting out on a journey across the United States. The film featured the contentious subject of racial profiling after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Reacting to the latest incident, India's Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna said he had asked India's ambassador to Washington to take up the issue with the US authorities. The US embassy in New Delhi issued a statement late Friday, apologising for any “inconvenience” that Khan “may have experienced” on his way to Yale University. A foreign ministry official in New Delhi said the “repeated” targeting of Khan had to be more than coincidental. “A mechanical apology is not adequate,” said the official, who declined to be named.
