Brooke Shields has called out South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone over a union dispute at the restaurant they own in Colorado.
Parker and Stone purchased and renovated Denver’s historic Casa Bonita restaurant in 2021.
As well as typical restaurant staff, the establishment also employs a number of theatrical performers. These performers voted to unionize in November last year and are represented by the Actors’ Equity Association.
They are currently campaigning for fair wages, safety measures and other benefits.
Shields, in her role as president of Actors’ Equity Association, called out Parker and Stone by name in a new Instagram video.
“Hey Matt and Trey, nice to meet you,” says Shields. “As you know, I’m the president of Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents the performers who work for you at Casa Bonita. You probably know that we’ve been in bargaining for their first union contract for quite a while now, but maybe you don’t know that your restaurant management has been playing really fast and loose with this bargaining process.”
She adds: “It’s just not respectful to the performers who put their all into making Casa Bonita the one-of-a-kind destination that it is.”
Shields goes on to claim that the performers are not making a living wage. Casa Bonita United’s bargaining petition states that the living wage calculator estimates a required wage in Denver of over $30 per hour, but many members, in fact, only make $21 per hour.
“They’re being paid less than their coworkers who are actually serving the food,” says Shields. “So they’ve not only been hard at work entertaining Casa Bonita guests and spending their volunteer hours in bargaining — they’ve also been putting their names on a petition.”
Shields concludes with a plea to Parker and Stone to address the performers’ petition “so that we can all put this chapter way behind us. Because without the performers who bring Casa Bonita to life, it’s just a big pink restaurant.”
The Independent has approached Trey Parker and Matt Stone and the Actors’ Equity Association for comment.
Casa Bonita had filed for bankruptcy prior to Parker and Stone stepping in to buy it four years ago. They paid a reported $3.1 million for the restaurant and spent an additional $40 million on renovations.
Earlier this year, the duo signed a landmark $1.5 billion deal with Paramount for the streaming rights to their long-running animated comedy show.
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