Killer Mike is a prominent figure and voice in the Atlanta community. The rapper and activist recently used his platform to call for a boycott of the French bistro after Dominique Wilkins claimed they discriminated against him during a recent visit.
As previously reported, on Saturday, May 22, the former Atlanta Hawks forward blasted Le Bilboquet when he shared a photo of the establishment alongside a statement that read, “In my many years in the world I’ve eaten at some of the greatest restaurants in the world, but never have I felt prejudice or been turned away because of the color of my skin, until today in #atlanta in @LeBilboquetAtl #turnedawaybecauseimblack.”
Wilkins supposedly did not observe the dress code, which called for gentlemen to wear collared shirts. However, since news of the former athlete’s unpleasant experience was made public, many people online have come forth sharing their own stories. It appeared that the establishment’s inability to enforce the dress code consistently led many to deem it racist. The 61-year-old said on social media that at the time, “I was wearing designer casual pants and a shirt.”
Killer Mike now wants Le Bilboquet to “make this lame sh-t right” and called for a boycott. In an Instagram post shared to his account on Sunday, May 23, the rapper uploaded a screenshot of Wilkin’s Twitter post and wrote, “How ya’ll mistreat ‘NIQUE’ @dominiquewilkins21! Ya’ll lame AF for that shawty! #ThatAintAtlantaALL #RacismIsLame #SuperWeak #ShutemDown.”
The restaurant seemingly heard the “Run the Jewels” rapper’s request and issued a formal apology to the former NBA star. In a lengthy statement uploaded to their Instagram page with the comment feature disabled, they wrote, “We sincerely apologize to Dominique Wilkins for the events that occurred on May 22. No patron of our restaurants should be made to feel unwelcome or less than, and for that we are deeply sorry. It was never our intention to make Mr. Wilkins — or anyone else for that matter — feel that way at our restaurant.”
Le Bilboquet maintained that Wilkins was denied service because the Hall of Famer did not adhere to their dress code but noted that “we realize our current policy is subject to interpretation and can be unintentionally demeaning and divisive.” The restaurant promised to make changes, including providing “diversity, equity, and inclusion training to all current employees and require it as part of our employee onboarding process moving forward.”
“We will not tolerate implicit or explicit bias,” the statement concluded. “We have done and will continue [to] do the work to ensure our restaurant is a place where all feel welcome. Again, we apologize to Mr. Wilkins and hope these changes will be met with an eye toward progress.”
