You can't say anything on the Internet these days without it coming back to haunt you—a fact that one Rainey Street bar is now learning the hard way.
If you haven't heard about the scandal yet, here's a primer: Reports recently surfaced that Unbarlievable—and, in particular, owner Brandon Cash—have been involved in racist and misogynistic activities and posts online—and IRL. Patrons have accused the circus-themed bar of everything from rude service to arranging beer glasses in the shape of a swastika, to which Cash has responded with "comebacks" like "next time you ship in a prostitute from out of town you don't have to take her out and buy her drinks to get laid," in addition to making light of sexual assault and telling every naysayer to send their complaints to "getfucked@unbarlievable.com." In short, pretty disgusting behavior.
The inflammatory comments from Cash have pretty much all been scrubbed from Facebook and Yelp at this point (though you can see most of them here), but the fallout has been swift. The Goodnight bar, which Cash partly owned, released a statement saying they were purchasing his remaining ownership as of 4pm yesterday. Cash himself, whose personal Facebook sported a recent post looking for "a really tan/brown small human to walk around unBARlievable tugging on people's shirts while attempting to sell them chicle," has also just released a statement that read, in part:
"It is with profound humility that I issue this heartfelt apology. To those who I have hurt and offended, I am deeply sorry. My words and actions were wrong, inappropriate and inexcusable. They certainly don’t exemplify the values of a community that I love and care deeply about and my insensitive actions do not represent the views of my loyal and dedicated employees."
The good news to come out of all of this is a strong showing of solidarity among the rest of Rainey Street's establishments. Last night, one particular Instagram photo spread like wildfire:
Bars like Half Step, Icenhauers, Bangers, Clive, Container Bar, Bar 96 and others shared this post, as did other supporting bars around Austin and businesses like The Seer Presents, which said simply: "I think we all can agree Austin is no place for that bullshit."
A planned protest is taking place tomorrow, June 30, at 7pm in front of Unbarlievable. A press conference will be held at 1pm beforehand. You can find out more information here.
Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.