After explaining it on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the odd sandwich was talked about for days on TV and social media.
Two employees at an Ann Arbor Smoothie King “are no longer with the business” after a couple were refused service because the husband was wearing clothes with President Donald Trump’s name on it.
The Texas-based company confirmed the staffing decision Monday evening in a series of social media posts.
“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,” the company said on X.
Smoothie King corporate officials and the franchise owner have apologized to the guest and the franchise owner is “taking further action and enforcing mandatory retraining for all employees that outlines our guest experience standards,” the company added.
The woman said she and her husband were refused service because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with Trump’s name on it.
Video of the encounter between the couple and an employee at the Smoothie King was shared in a post on X by accounts called Leftism, which says its goal is “Exposing Leftists,” and Meme’nOnLibs, which says its mission is “to ridicule liberals enough to end the woke movement.” The video had more than 666,000 views as of Monday night.
“She refused to serve customers at @SmoothieKing because the husband wore a Trump hoodie,” Leftism said in the Monday post. “She has now made a GoFundMe in which she boasts about refusing to serve Trump supporters, and claims that she was filmed without permission, is a minor, and now has a lot of hate comments.”
The post added: “I expect @gofundme to take proper action and not allow her to raise money off of discriminating against others. She also posted videos doubling on what she did, saying that ‘this is good vs evil, we need to stand up,’ and is calling for people to report the original video on Facebook, claiming that it was ‘taken without permission’ and takes issue with a lot of the commenters being white.”
The GoFundMe page was later disabled.
In it, the employee wrote: “refused service to trump supporters, who recorded me as a minor without permission, after they posted the video it got hundreds of hate comments and threats making the job no longer safe to return to.”
The employee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“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,” the company said on X.
Before confirming that the employees no longer is working for Smoothie King, officials issued a statement about the incident:
“Smoothie King has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind, including political affiliation. We were deeply concerned to learn of an incident involving a guest who was refused service at a franchised location in Michigan yesterday, Sunday, late afternoon. That is not the experience we want for anyone who walks through our doors.
“The local franchise owner is conducting a thorough and immediate investigation to ensure we fully understand the event and determine appropriate actions,” the company said. “Both the local franchise owner and Smoothie King corporate have been in contact with the guest to better understand their experience, and we will continue to follow up.
“Every guest and team member deserves to feel welcomed. We remain firmly committed to upholding our brand standards and ensuring our stores are inclusive environments where everyone feels cared for and respected.”
cramirez@detroitnews.com
@CharlesERamirez
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