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A French restaurant located in the Buckhead area of Atlanta is being accused of discrimination after two Black celebrities were asked to leave over dress code violations.
Both Real Housewives of Atlanta regular Shamea Morton and NBA legend Dominique Wilkins shared they were asked to leave Le Bilboquet restaurant on two separate occasions, weeks apart.
“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,” Wilkins wrote in a tweet on May 22.
The NBA star said “they looked me up and down… and to add insult, talked about how my clothes were not appropriate when I was wearing designer casual pants and a shirt.”
The restaurant offered an apology to Wilkins, and sent it to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “No patron of our restaurants should be made to feel unwelcome or less than, and for that we are deeply sorry,” the apology reportedly reads.
Actress and host Shamea Morton, revealed that she, too, was kicked out of the same restaurant weeks before over the clothes she was wearing at the time –– a track suit. “It’s a cute one,” Morton told the newspaper in an interview. “It wasn’t like a jogging suit. I had capri pants and a jacket. I thought I looked cute.”
She taped a clip of an exchange she had with the restaurant’s manager Mark Hoefer where she accused the establishment of only enforcing the dress code for certain guests. She shared the audio exclusively with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Does [the dress code] apply only to certain people?” Morton asks Hoefer in the clip.
“It’s not that it only applies to certain people,” the manager replied.
“OK. I’m looking at the Caucuasian people like this gentleman has on sneakers.” The two continue their exchange and Morton expresses her frustration.
“This is the third time this has happened to me at Le Bilboquet and I don’t know why I keep coming back here,” she says in the audio.
Morton told the outlet that an attorney advised her to see if anything else happens at the restaurant before taking any legal action. Weeks later, Wilkins was turned away.
She’s come out now to share her experience at the restaurant.
The restaurant told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they’ve implemented training and evaluated its dress code to avoid “ambiguities” moving forward.
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