Smoothie King Employees at a Michigan Location Refused Service to Trump Supporters

A couple in Ann Arbor, Mich., shared a video on social media of Smoothie King employees refusing service because the husband was wearing a pro-Trump hoodie. After the video was posted and shared in numerous places, including X (formerly Twitter), it sort of blew up overnight, and now, people want to know the story behind the incident and what happened afterwards.

In the video, a woman, who was later identified as Erika Lindemyer, explains that two employees at an Ann Arbor location of the smoothie chain refused to serve both her and her husband, Jacob Lindemyer, because of their political affiliation. Erika explains in the video that her husband Jacob is wearing a Trump hoodie and that the Smoothie King employees are "discriminating" against them.

In the viral video, Erika and Jacob leave the Smoothie King location without being served. First, they repeatedly tell the employees, two Black women, that they will lose their jobs if they continue to refuse service to them. The women reiterate that they will not serve the couple, and eventually, the couple leaves the location.

Before that, though, Erika tells the employees that it is "illegal" for them to refuse to serve them. When one of the employees says that Trump discriminates against them, Erika says, "That has nothing to do with us wanting a smoothie." Still, the employees once again ask the couple to leave the restaurant.

On a Reddit thread about the viral video and incident involving the employees and the Trump-supporting customers, some likened the issue to the news story about a bakery refusing to make a cake for a same-sex couple for their wedding. This is likely in reference to the Colorado bakery that refused service to a couple in 2017, resulting in a civil case that the bakery won.

Someone else commented on the post to applaud the couple for "exercising their constitutional rights." Others wondered why the husband in question was wearing a Trump hoodie outside of campaign season anyway.

After the couple reported the incident, and Smoothie King executives were made aware of what happened at one of the franchise locations, the chain released a statement on social media about letting the employees go who were involved.

"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 statement said.

The statement also said that the chain is dedicated to making sure all locations are "free of discrimination of any kind."

One of the employees, Janiyah Mishelle Williams, allegedly started a GoFundMe after she was fired from Smoothie King in an effort to help support her amidst alleged online harassment following her refusal to serve the customers. However, according to The Detroit News, the GoFundMe was taken down not long after Janiyah started the fundraiser.