Dallas restaurant owner’s response to twerking customers goes viral

DALLAS - A Dallas restaurant owner is getting both praise and blowback for his reaction to a group of customers twerking in his restaurant.

The incident happened over the weekend at TRUE Kitchen + Kocktails that owner Kevin Kelley just opened in August in Downtown Dallas.

In the video that was posted on Twitter and quickly went viral, Kelley addressed the whole restaurant and stopped the music after a group of women stood up on their chairs and were twerking against a glass wall.

“I invested a lot of money into buying this building and developing this concept so Black people can have somewhere nice to go to. And so all this twerking and s***, take it to Pryme, take it to Pink. Don’t bring it here because we’re a restaurant.” Kelley said in the video. “Beyond that, 75% of my customers are ladies. And I want men to show respect for themselves and how they carry themselves around here. So how can I tell the men to respect themselves and you guys are twerking on glass. If you want to do it, get the f*** out of my restaurant… Get out because I don’t need your money.”

The video quickly drew mixed reaction on social media. By Monday, the video had been picked up by media outlets nationwide. He spoke to TMZ Live Monday on FOX 4.

Kelley posted a lengthy statement on the restaurant’s Facebook page, essentially apologizing for his profanity-laced rant but stood by his message. You can read the full statement below.