A black actor and comedian believes he was discriminated against after he was kicked out of a restaurant in Buffalo, New York for wearing a hoodie.
According to WKBW7News, 27-year-old Chris Jarell said security and a manager from the popular restaurant Bada Bing booted him on June 22 because he was wearing a black hoodie, even though a white customer also wearing a hoodie was allowed to stay.
The New York City actor was in Buffalo at the time filming an indie movie. Jarrell went to the restaurant after leaving the gym to pick up some dinner to take back to his hotel room. That’s when security approached him and asked them to leave. “Security guard comes in with a problem, like ‘hey man, you said you wasn’t going to sit down,’” Jarell said.
While security called for a manager, Jarell noticed that a white patron was wearing a similar outfit. When he asked about this discrepancy, Jarell claims the manager cursed at him. “I told the manager if I put this on social media, it’s not a good look man. You’re treating somebody who’s coming in town for the first time like they’ve done something wrong. He was like f’ you and your social media. Don’t come back here. I don’t care who you are,” Jarell told WKBW.
After facing backlash online, the restaurant has tried to remedy the situation with multiple statements. “I feel terrible. Last thing I wanted was people to think I’m a racist. I think both sides caused the situation,” the manager told WKBW.
Read the first statement below:
Bada Bing then deleted that statement and replaced it with the following:
