Pretty Yende, an acclaimed soprano, says she was forced to submit to a body search at a Paris airport.
They took her for questioning and forced her to submit to a body search that she described as invasive.
While she was not asked to remove her clothes, she says, the police told her, without explanation, to take off her shoes and kept her in a cold, dark room.
The police say Yende was forced to submit to a pat-down but say it was carried out in a professional manner by a female officer.
Yende presented a provisional residence permit from Italy, where she lives, but the French authorities said she needed a separate one-time visa.
Born in a small town in South Africa, she has won wide acclaim in an industry historically dominated by white performers.