One of the first things that crossed my mind when I found out that most of the celebrities who came in for the BET Awards were staying at the Ritz-Carlton in Beverly Hills was an unfavorable experience a black friend and her white husband had there a few years back.
My friend was the first to enter and check in for their weekend staycation, but she was completely ignored by the front desk. As soon as her white husband walked in, however, he was greeted and treated like royalty. So it doesn’t shock me that Leslie Jones, who was probably one of the best hosts the show has had in a while, also experienced something that made her tweet this:
Now, Jones did not go into details about what happened, but the hotel did respond to her tweet, because of course they would ... she’s a celebrity.
For the record, there were hundreds of black people in and out of the Ritz-Carlton on Saturday, since it was the ticket-pickup location for the awards show. And it wouldn’t be the first time the Ritz has been accused of racism.
During the CIAA Tournament in 2015, customers noticed a “CIAA Service” surcharge of 15 percent added to their bills at the lobby bar, Fox News reported. If you’re not familiar with the event, it’s a basketball conference made up of HBCUs and is held every year in Charlotte, N.C. Before you ask, the hotel declined to respond to the initial question of whether there was also an “ACC Championship” charge, or any other charges for similar events where the primary patrons aren’t black.
We’ve reached out to Jones’ reps for a comment and have not heard back.