In a tweet on Monday, Leslie Jones decided it was a good idea to post that the Ritz Carlton was racist and didn’t like black people.
Here's the SNL comedian's tweet:
After seeing the post, many users online have asked Jones to elaborate on her claim, but she has yet to give a response. Jones’s fans have come out saying they would boycott the hotel chain in solidarity, despite her lack of evidence thus far that the Ritz Carlton is racist, which is seriously concerning.
The hotel chain’s response was immediate and their PR firm, the Brandman Agency has taken Jones' accusations very seriously. A spokesperson for the firm stressed that “Diversity and inclusion are part of the fabric of The Ritz-Carlton’s culture and operations."
"We remain committed to providing an environment where all feel welcome," the spokesperson said, adding that they have made multiple attempts to follow up with Jones.
Now we’ve all had bad service before, whether it be at a hotel, a restaurant, or any number of the service industries. But that doesn’t mean any of those places were bigoted toward us. There’s a difference between terrible service (if that's in fact what happened here) and outright racism.
Let’s get something straight. If the employees at the Los Angeles Ritz, located a few feet away from the theatre in which the BET Awards took place, did in fact engage in racism in any way, shape, or form, they should be condemned for their actions. But so far, Jones has offered no clue as to her reasoning for claiming such a thing, and the burden of proof is on her to do so.
Jones’s unsubstantiated claims could have jeopardized the employment of several working class staff members who are employed by the L.A. Ritz. To add to that, she has more than 694k Twitter followers who will now see this post, who might take her opinion to heart.
In a day and age where people’s unfounded outrage gets the best of them, this tweet pours gasoline into the fire.
Next time Jones should take her own advice and “Don’t get on Twitter.”
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