The owner of True Kitchen + Kocktails is attempting to clear his name after footage circulated of him snapping at customers who were dancing and twerking at his restaurant.
Per the viral video, a group of women is seen happily dancing to Lil Ronny’s “Throw Dat Ass In A Circle” and Megan Thee Stallion’s “Body” before they are approached and berated by Kevin Kelley. “I invested a lot of money into buying this building, into developing this concept, so that Black people can have somewhere nice to go to, OK?” he said. “Somewhere where our people can feel good about themselves as a culture. Real talk. And so all this twerking and shit, take it to Prime, take it to Pink. Don’t bring it here because we’re a restaurant.”
Kelley’s knowledge of STARZ’s “P-Valley” series, however, wasn’t enough to protect him from the jokes social media had in store. The owner and his bougie restaurant were dragged for bad service, the way he chastised the group of dancing women and his belief that a group of Black patrons would be still when the twerking anthems blasted through the speakers. Amid the backlash, he explained that his rant only came after his previous attempt to stop the women from dancing was unsuccessful.
“There were 3 tables that had been spoken to about twerking,” Kelley explained to his followers. “The[y] were approached very politely less than 10 minutes before. Despite this, the last young woman decided to stand against the glass windows and start twerking on the glass. Enough was enough for not only that lady, but for that 3 tables of women who were the only ones in our restaurant to act this way.”
Kelley acknowledged that music should be “enjoyed” while dining, but explained that it is no “excuse to stand on” the restaurant’s furniture. “There are places for this, and TRUE is not the one,” he said. “As for my delivery, I can assure I was a gentleman earlier, but my nice words weren’t respected. TRUE will be for some and not all, and that is ok.”
A video of Kelley calmly speaking to the same group of women was also released.
