The owners of Jason Aldean‘s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar are speaking out after a woman accused the restaurant of racial profiling on social media. The company issued a statement after a customer, Laura Murphy, alleged that her husband, who is black, was denied entrance while wearing a hoodie, even though other white patrons were allowed to enter wearing a hoodie.
“We strive to be one of the most welcoming establishments in Nashville and are horrified by these reports,” TC Restaurant Group said in a statement obtained, via Fox News. “Our leadership team is investigating this situation and will take action should we find that any of our employees or third-party security contractors violated our policies. We appreciate those who have brought this to our attention.”
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Murphy posted on Facebook that she was out with her husband and some friends, and waited in line to get in, only for her husband, the only black person in the group, to be denied entrance because of his hoodie, even after he offered to take it off. As they were exiting, Murphy noticed three other black men, also denied entrance, while they noticed several white people exiting the bar wearing hoodies.
“Last night we went out to Broadway,” Murphy wrote, as part of a lengthy post. “It was around 37 degrees outside. We went to a few places and had a lot of fun. Around midnight we decided to walk over to Jason Aldean’s Kitchen and Rooftop Bar. There was a pretty long line to get in, so we waited. When we got to the front, our ID’s were checked and we started to walk up the stairs. My husband, who is black, was first in line and was stopped by a bouncer and told he couldn’t come in because he was wearing a hoodie. He asked if he could just take it off, and was told no that he had to leave.
“As he walked down the other side of the stairs and the rest of us followed, there were three other black men at the bottom watching people enter.,” she continued. “These three had all also been turned away because of some dress code violation. Not all of them were in hoodies so I’m not sure what they violated. I’ve searched their website and have yet to find a dress code policy, nor was one posted outside. We were in a group of five, the other four of us being white.”
Murphy later updated the post to say that someone from the TC Restaurant Group reached out to her about the incident.
“I did want to update and let everyone know that I just received a call from their 3rd party security service owner, who apologized for the situation and acknowledged the incident,” Murphy wrote. “He did say that he’s taking care of it with his associates. He himself is a black man married to a white woman, and completely understood the situation. He was very cordial, and I’m confident that he will do everything in his power to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
“I hope some change takes place and nobody else experiences this at this restaurant/bar or others in Nashville,” she continued. “Other than this incident, we had an amazing trip to Nashville. I appreciate them taking the time to call me and talk about it.”
Aldean has yet to publicly comment about the incident. His latest album,9, will be released on Nov. 22.
Photo Credit: Getty / Jason Kempin
