Hollywood Bar Responds to Racism Allegations

Some of you may remember last month’s controversy surrounding the Hollywood Bar and Grill in Itaewon after a patron made the claim in the Korea Times that the bar was racist in it’s reasons for denying service to three of his Nigerian friends. The manager of the bar has now responded with his own article in the Korea Times disputing the racism allegations:

Finally, the owner never asked for ID until he was provoked to do so. A man ordered what the owner thought was “two draft beers.” When the owner brought the two beers, the man got irritated and replied that he really wanted “two screwdrivers.” When the owner brought two screwdrivers, the man laughed and said he only wanted one. The man’s friend, realizing he was being difficult, offered to pay for both drinks anyway. It was then and only then that the owner requested to see the man’s ID. As it so happened, the man was a Nigerian citizen. The owner then warned the man that if he continued to act in this way, he would be asked to leave. The man then responded with gross profanity and threatened the owner. At this point, the owner and manager told the man that he would have to leave. The man and a few of his friends continued to curse and threaten them as they left. Yet, how did the owner respond to all this? He completely refunded them for everything. That’s right, everything.

This is a good example of why it is important to get both sides of the story because if the above narrative is true I would have to say the owner did in fact have good reason to deny service to the three men. Read the rest of the response where the manager brings up some more good points and draw your own conclusions.