Smoothie King fired two employees who refused service to a couple over a pro-Trump hoodie.
Erika Lindemyer posted a video of the interaction on TikTok, showing the black women employees claiming that President Donald Trump discriminates against them, so they wouldn’t serve the couple. After the video went viral, Smoothie King quickly terminated two employees involved in the spat, saying in a statement that it’s dedicated to ensuring their establishments are places “free of discrimination of any kind, where every guest and team member is treated with care and respect.”
“Following an investigation into an incident involving a guest who was refused service at a franchised location in Michigan yesterday, the franchise owner has taken immediate action and the two employees involved are no longer with the business. Both the franchise owner and Smoothie King corporate have reached out to the guest several times to apologize and will continue to follow up,” the statement read.
It added that the local owner of the franchised location is “taking further action and enforcing mandatory retraining for all employees that outlines our guest experience standards.”
In the video showing part of the interaction, Lindemyer repeated one employee’s earlier line that she doesn’t “feel comfortable serving you” due to the husband’s hoodie. She argued that this amounted to “discrimination” and was “illegal,” but the employees were unperturbed.
“I said Trump discriminates [against] us,” the second employee answered.
“OK, well that has nothing to do with us getting a smoothie!” Lindemyer fired back.
“OK, well that’s who you support though, that’s who you love,” the first employee responded.
The second employee claimed they had a “right to refuse service” and stood by their decision. Lindemyer threatened to call the police while leaving, though the ensuing interaction wasn’t caught on camera.
In the aftermath, one of the employees who refused service posted a video saying she might’ve “accidentally started a race war,” then went for a new attack angle, complaining that she was a minor, so she wanted the video removed.
“I am a minor, and she recorded me without my permission. The people in the comments are all white, and they’re all being hella racist, guys, please help me get this video taken down,” she said.
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The comments on the video were evenly split between supporters and critics. Many voiced sympathy with the couple, and several said they called the company to complain. Others claimed the employees were within their rights to refuse service.
Many supporters claimed hypocrisy, writing that if a conservative employee refused service over the wearing of liberal merchandise, there would be an uproar from Democrats.