A star of the hit musical Hamilton has accused a Soho bar of racial profiling, claiming that it denied a group of actors entry because they were black.
Giles Terera said the Ain’t Nothin’ But blues bar had allowed 10 white people next to them to enter, but that the group of eight black actors were turned away.
2. This group of talented, and hard working actors was left devastated, confused and upset while the manager said “I dont care who you are or what you are.”
— Giles Terera (@GilesTerera) November 29, 2019
That this happens anywhere is a fucking disgrace, the fact it happens at venue which also exploits Blues music is sick
The bar denied the actors’ race influenced their decision not to serve the group. In a statement on Facebook, Ain’t Nothin’ But described the tweets as “unfair”, and accused them of using “the race card” to intimidate the staff.
“No one was refused entry. They were ID’d inside the bar and it was found some of the group did not have ID. Therefore they could not be served,” the statement said.
“It is a shame they then have to try and use the ‘race’ card to intimidate the staff. Just because the next group happened to be white, they were a different age group, so were served.
“We have regular customers, and staff, who are black. It makes no difference to us what colour people are,” it added.
The Labour MP David Lammy responded to the tweet, describing the action as “everyday racism” and “despicable”.
“It’s thankfully less common in London than many places but hurts when it happens all the same,” he said.
Terera said the actors were in a play about American blues. The actor Clarke Peters responded to the tweet, saying: “Now those actors know what the blues are about!!!!! That establishment should experience some blues too.”
