Smoothie King has fired two Michigan employees who were captured on viral video denying service to a man in a hoodie featuring President Donald Trump’s name.
The video was originally posted to TikTok by a woman named Erika Lindmeyer, according to The New York Post, and was widely reshared to other platforms. The account where the original post was made was set to private.
Cellphone video shows Lindmeyer and her husband in a fiery verbal confrontation with two employees at a Smoothie King in Ann Arbor on Sunday, March 1.
“We were just wanting a smoothie, and you literally looked at us, and I asked you if everything was OK, and you said, ‘We don’t feel comfortable serving you’ because of my husband’s hoodie. That is discrimination,” Lindmeyer says.
“OK, well, have a great day,” one of the employees replies.
“That is illegal,” Lindmeyer chides.
“I said Trump discriminates (against) us,” another worker says.
“OK, well, that has nothing to do with us getting a smoothie,” Lindmeyer responds.
“OK, well that’s who you support, that’s who you love,” the first employee fires back.
As the couple continues to chastise the workers, the first employee explains that her co-worker “was uncomfortable” when the pair walked in and that the store has the right to refuse service.
The following day, Smoothie King issued a statement on X confirming both workers were fired, and that corporate and the local franchise owner have reached out to the couple to apologize.
“As a brand, Smoothie King is committed to ensuring our stores are a place 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 local owner is also taking further action and enforcing mandatory retraining for all employees that outlines our guest experience standards.”
The incident has sparked controversy online. Some people sided with the employees and their choice to refuse service to the couple. Others supported the company’s decision to fire them.
“2 black woman employees were fired at Smoothie King for refusing to serve Trump supporters wearing their MAGA gear. They weren’t wrong. Those women stood on business,” one Threads user wrote.
“Smoothie King did the right thing. If you aren’t the owner you have no business denying people for wearing trump shirts. Imagine if a conservative did that for wearing Obama shirts. She deserved to get fired,” another person commented.
“I do not support President Trump or MAGA. I believe both have caused serious harm to the country. That said, refusing to serve customers because of their political expression is wrong,” someone else wrote.
In the aftermath, one of the now-fired employees took to social media to explain what happened and told viewers what drove her decision to boot the couple from the store.
“We need to stand up. Like it’s a matter of good versus evil, it doesn’t matter, red versus blue baby, none of that. It’s good versus evil, stand up for what’s right. Stand up for what you believe in,” she said.
She has since launched a GoFundMe account that has been removed as she faces online bullying and threats from MAGA supporters.
“These are grown adults hating on little old me, “the teen said. “I really shook them with this. This is really insanity.”
