A Downtown Dallas Restaurant Gets Clowned On All Over The Internet’s Most Unforgiving Platform After An Anti-Twerking Rant Goes Viral.

Every day there’s a new main character on Twitter, and you better hope and pray you haven’t been casted for that role. The main character is the punchline of the day — the content cow milked for the masses.

Such was the case for one particular Downtown Dallas restaurant owner that peaked at  no. 7 on Twitter’s trending topics section on Monday.

True Kitchen & Kocktails made both headlines and memes after owner Kevin Kelley was caught on viral video issuing an “anti-twerking rant” a la Aunt Myrtle.

Allegedly, Kelley had repeatedly asked his guests to refrain from twerking on the furniture before the viral moment was caught on camera.

“Don’t bring it here because we’re a restaurant, and so beyond that, 75 percent of my customers are ladies and I want men to show respect … for how they carry themselves here,” Kelley says in the video. “So how can I tell the men to respect themselves and you [women] are twerking on glass here? If you wanna do it, get the fuck out my restaurant because I did it for our people and I did it for our culture. So don’t do it again. I don’t want to hear it. If you don’t like it, get out because I don’t need your money. I need to provide something for my people. Don’t do it again. Thank you!”

SEE ALSO: SUPPORT LOCAL WITH THESE 95 BLACK-OWNED FOOD BUSINESSES.  

No matter — this is the internet, and in the court of public opinion, there doesn’t seem to be a definitive ruling on Kelley’s actions.

Now, from a business owner’s perspective, there are risks to people throwing ass on glass such ass lawsuits, which True Kitchen + Kocktails did address in a lengthy Instagram post. But for some spectators, that wasn’t enough of an explanation for why  Kelley addressed his guests the way he did.

Though it was saturated with memes, the internet sparked a greater conversation — Who decides the culture: ownership or the people? Is one gatekeeping more than the other? This isn’t the typical internet fodder we’re used to seeing fueled by a Ken or Karen who is upset about having to wear a cloth on their face.

Based on the varying takes filling the online conversation, it’s possible that everyone mishandled the situation, but that didn’t stop the immediate takes from all sides.

 

There were some folks who disagreed with the way that Kelley, as a business owner, acted in his delivery. Though it was in his right as a business owner to address his guests’ behaviors, some felt his method was less than professional.

The DJ was playing ass throwing bangers at brunch, after all.

As fate would have it, the song that apparently caused all of this commotion in the first place was, according to Green Source LLC on Facebook, none other than Dallas rapper Lil Ronny MothaF’s iconic, ass enticing anthem “Circle (Throw Dat Ass In A Circle).”

Of course, the video made its way in front of the Dallas native himself, and he had something to say.

Mr. MothaF does has a point here.

Add that to an environment with signature drinks and it’s a recipe for inevitable fun. You already know what’s about to happen when you hear those strings and that Dussé slushie starts getting a little watered down.

Still, some felt as if though an environment mixed with music and alcohol still doesn’t give patrons an excuse to wild out at brunch. Many echoed that it’s all about self-respect, as Kelley preached in his initial speech.

And then, there’s making a case for contrasting the differences in behavior to those demonstrated at white-owned restaurants versus Black-owned restaurants.

Even former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant agreed.

 

This raises another question: Is this situation revealing a deeper-rooted issue of complications in the relationship between southern Black culture and respectability politics?

No matter what angle you approach this kaleidoscopic issue, at the end of the day, it’ll always be Dallas.

Besides, we have to raise one final question: crowded indoor dining during a pandemic? The only presence winning in this situation is COVID-19.

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