This past weekend Meek Mill was denied entry to the Cosmopolitan hotel in Las Vegas after he had tried to enter to see a Mustard concert. A source from within the hotel had initially claimed that they did so due to a previous fight that Meek had gotten into (which Meek denies occurred) while the rapper (and his lawyer) contend that they kept him out because he was a black entertainer.
"Some of these casinos have a bunch of [tactics] to keep the level of blacks down ... but love to take our money!" Meek wrote on his Instagram page. "This happens to a lot of black entertainers not just me [...]"
His attorney, Joe Tacopina, followed up on those accusations by demanding an apology for his client, prior to leveling legal threats against the establishment. That letter read, in part:
"... we have learned that the Cosmopolitan maintains a list of African American recording artists who should be denied access for no other reason than than their culture and skin color. Such course of conduct constitutes discrimination per se, in violation of state and federal law, and exposes you to significant monetary damages [...] we urge you to promptly issue an apology to Mr. Williams and grant him immediate access. In the event you fail to heed this one and only warning, we intend to pursue all legal recourse against you."
Now, the hotel is saying their rationale for keeping Meek out is because they say they had reached their capacity. Subsequently, they denied that the incident had anything to do with race, and stated that they have "zero tolerance for discrimination."
More specifically, they told TMZ that Meek had attempted to go to the Marquee Dayclub (which is in the Cosmopolitan) to see the aforementioned Mustard performance. As they put it, "[the] Marquee Dayclub had reached capacity per Las Vegas Fire Marshall code. Earlier that day, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police had been called onsite to manage a larger than usual venue crowd."
They went on to say, "Accordingly, when Marquee Dayclub was contacted in advance of Meek Mill's arrival, security staff clarified that he would not be granted access because of capacity issues, in accordance with both club and resort policy. Upon his arrival, it was reiterated to Meek Mill and his team for a second time that access to the venue was not permitted."
The hotel said that Meek was told that if he kept trying to get into the building then he would get arrested for trespassing.
TMZ went on to express doubt of the explanation given to them by referencing their footage (which is embedded above) in which a Cosmo guard referenced a previous incident he says happened in the lobby as being the reason for keeping Meek out. Again, as stated in the first paragraph, Meek denies that this altercation ever took place.
"The assertion that the Cosmopolitan denied Meek because of capacity concerns at Marquee Dayclub is outright false," Tacopina said in statement provided to Complex. "In the recorded video, Meek also inquired about getting a meal at one of the hotel’s restaurants, yet their security team continued to deny Meek and said he would be arrested for trespassing regardless of location in the hotel premises. The Cosmopolitan’s conduct continues to be deplorable."
