http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/forest-whitaker-gets-apology-ny-deli-200156859--abc-news-celebrities.html
QuoteThe owner of a Manhattan deli, where Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker was accused of shoplifting and frisked, has apologized and says the employee who patted down the actor is "no longer with us."
Speaking to "TMZ Live," Anthony Galofaro, the owner of Milano Market, expressed his regret over Friday's incident and offered to "make a donation to a charity of Mr. Whitaker's choice to rectify this wrongdoing."
He said the employee who stopped the actor outside the deli was a "decent man" who was "just doing his job."
"We have a lot of shoplifters here," Galofaro said Monday. "It was very busy. He thought (Whitaker) took something and he wasn't sure."
The worker later apologized, but Galofaro said the man, a longtime employee, is "no longer here with us. ... He doesn't want to come here, that's how much hurt he is. ...It was a sincere mistake."
Still, Galofaro said he was unsure whether he would take the man back. "My job is to make sure this won't happen again," he said, adding that he is taking steps to retrain workers.
He also insisted that the incident had nothing to do with race. "It hurts me more than anything else what I've been hearing in the papers," he said about the accusations of racism.
Whitaker's rep, Jennifer Plante, did not respond immediately to ABCNews.com's request for comment, but she spoke out about the incident over the weekend.
"This was an upsetting incident given the fact that Forest did nothing more than walk into the deli," Plante told the New York Daily News. "What is most unfortunate about this situation is the inappropriate way store employees are treating patrons of their establishment."
According to Plante, the 51-year-old actor who won an Academy Award for his portrayal of dictator Idi Amin, opted not to call the cops over the incident, in part, because the worker was afraid of getting fired.
"Forest asked that, in the future, the store change their behavior and treat the public in a fair and just manner," she said.
Whitaker produced the Sundance standout "Fruitvale," based on the true story of a 22-year-old unarmed black man who was killed by a Bay Area transit policeman.
I think I'd raise hell if a deli employee tried to feel me up.
I'm of two thoughts:
-on the one hand, shoplifting is a fact. Stores are entitled to try and stop it, and are occasionally going to make mistakes in doing so. even though I am not required to, I would have no problem with letting any LPO look through my bag if asked.
-on the other hand - pat down searches? Sorry, you're not entitled to do them, and I'm not consenting.
Quote from: Barrister on February 19, 2013, 04:43:04 PM
-on the other hand - pat down searches? Sorry, you're not entitled to do them, and I'm not consenting.
Exactly.
If he did in fact win an Oscar why is he doing his own shopping? :yeahright:
Quote from: garbon on February 19, 2013, 04:39:13 PM
I think I'd raise hell if a deli employee tried to feel me up.
I think I'd raise hell with anybody that didn't recognize I was Forest Whitaker. For Christ's sake, the brother's one of the most recognizable people in Hollywood, what with that lazy eye and all. But that's New York sometimes.
And a pat down? That takes some seriously stupid balls to do on anybody, let alone somebody as big as Forest Whitaker. A person not named Forest Whitaker would've laid him the fuck out.
Quote from: Barrister on February 19, 2013, 04:43:04 PM
-on the other hand - pat down searches? Sorry, you're not entitled to do them, and I'm not consenting.
Maybe he's lonely?
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 04:47:13 PM
I think I'd raise hell with anybody that didn't recognize I was Forest Whitaker. For Christ's sake, the brother's one of the most recognizable people in Hollywood, what with that lazy eye and all. But that's New York sometimes.
OTOH, if you didn't immediately recognize him, you might think he looked like a crazy homeless guy since... he looks like Forest Whitaker. :ph34r:
Inside the deli:
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fassets.nydailynews.com%2Fpolopoly_fs%2F1.1266210%21%2Fimg%2FhttpImage%2Fimage.jpg_gen%2Fderivatives%2Flandscape_635%2Farticle-milanomarket2-0216.jpg&hash=7354d927a1f2926e382e4f49759e2db67be3c99c)
Man I would take one look, see it was Idi Amin, and let him take whatever he wanted.
Don't delis have panic rooms for when a black man walks in?
Quote from: Barrister on February 19, 2013, 04:43:04 PM
I'm of two thoughts:
-on the one hand, shoplifting is a fact. Stores are entitled to try and stop it, and are occasionally going to make mistakes in doing so. even though I am not required to, I would have no problem with letting any LPO look through my bag if asked.
-on the other hand - pat down searches? Sorry, you're not entitled to do them, and I'm not consenting.
The employee thought he saw a salami in Forrest's trousers.
Quote from: The Brain on February 19, 2013, 04:51:28 PM
Don't delis have panic rooms for when a black man walks in?
Yeah. It's usually the organic aisle.
Quote from: Caliga on February 19, 2013, 04:49:36 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 04:47:13 PM
I think I'd raise hell with anybody that didn't recognize I was Forest Whitaker. For Christ's sake, the brother's one of the most recognizable people in Hollywood, what with that lazy eye and all. But that's New York sometimes.
OTOH, if you didn't immediately recognize him, you might think he looked like a crazy homeless guy since... he looks like Forest Whitaker. :ph34r:
Well, it is New York. Sorta reminds me of that short-lived Michael Moore show years ago, where they did a segment that had a well dressed Yaphet Kotto trying to hail a cab in New York, and all the foreign-born cabbies passing him by to pick up a white guy that did time in four different prisons a hundred feet past him. Even with signs he was holding that said "Yaphet Kotto" and then "Yaphet Kotto, Famous Actor", they'd still pass him to pick up the white convict instead.
Why were you watching a Michael Moore show? :yeahright:
Quote from: garbon on February 19, 2013, 05:00:53 PM
Why were you watching a Michael Moore show? :yeahright:
They were hilarious. Short run unfortunately. He then went on to make the docucomedies you love to hate. I think Roger and Me was the only one he had made before the TV show.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 04:58:49 PM
Quote from: Caliga on February 19, 2013, 04:49:36 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 04:47:13 PM
I think I'd raise hell with anybody that didn't recognize I was Forest Whitaker. For Christ's sake, the brother's one of the most recognizable people in Hollywood, what with that lazy eye and all. But that's New York sometimes.
OTOH, if you didn't immediately recognize him, you might think he looked like a crazy homeless guy since... he looks like Forest Whitaker. :ph34r:
Well, it is New York. Sorta reminds me of that short-lived Michael Moore show years ago, where they did a segment that had a well dressed Yaphet Kotto trying to hail a cab in New York, and all the foreign-born cabbies passing him by to pick up a white guy that did time in four different prisons a hundred feet past him. Even with signs he was holding that said "Yaphet Kotto" and then "Yaphet Kotto, Famous Actor", they'd still pass him to pick up the white convict instead.
I remember that bit. 'Twas funny. :)
Quote from: Phillip V on February 19, 2013, 04:50:02 PM
Inside the deli:
Not exactly "Mort's Deli & Corned Beef, Est. 1947" on East Houston, now is it? Looks like a place you'd see a celebrity picking up something to knosh.
What would a cabbie want to do with a two-bit island dictator like Kananga?
Quote from: crazy canuck on February 19, 2013, 05:03:36 PM
Quote from: garbon on February 19, 2013, 05:00:53 PM
Why were you watching a Michael Moore show? :yeahright:
They were hilarious. Short run unfortunately. He then went on to make the docucomedies you love to hate. I think Roger and Me was the only one he had made before the TV show.
Oh yeah,
TV Nation was an absolute trip. However, that sort of scathing social commentary didn't translate well on broadcast TV.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 05:04:54 PM
Quote from: Phillip V on February 19, 2013, 04:50:02 PM
Inside the deli:
Not exactly "Mort's Deli & Corned Beef, Est. 1947" on East Houston, now is it? Looks like a place you'd see a celebrity picking up something to knosh.
For the most part East Houston is pretty okay. :)
Quote from: garbon on February 19, 2013, 05:13:39 PM
For the most part East Houston is pretty okay. :)
My point wass, it looks a bit swankier and upscale than your traditional lower east side neighborhood family-run deli. But I haven't been to the lower east side for a while.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 05:19:48 PM
My point wass, it looks a bit swankier and upscale than your traditional lower east side neighborhood family-run deli. But I haven't been to the lower east side for a while.
Did you miss the whole Alphabet City gentrfication thing?
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 19, 2013, 05:21:53 PM
Did you miss the whole Alphabet City gentrfication thing?
I heard there are no Irishmen in Hell's Kitchen anymore, and all the Jews in Brighton Beach have been displaced by filthy Cossacks.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 04:58:49 PM
Well, it is New York. Sorta reminds me of that short-lived Michael Moore show years ago, where they did a segment that had a well dressed Yaphet Kotto trying to hail a cab in New York, and all the foreign-born cabbies passing him by to pick up a white guy that did time in four different prisons a hundred feet past him. Even with signs he was holding that said "Yaphet Kotto" and then "Yaphet Kotto, Famous Actor", they'd still pass him to pick up the white convict instead.
Maybe they just don't like Jews?
Who is forest Whitaker
They all look alike.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 05:24:32 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 19, 2013, 05:21:53 PM
Did you miss the whole Alphabet City gentrfication thing?
I heard there are no Irishmen in Hell's Kitchen anymore, and all the Jews in Brighton Beach have been displaced by filthy Cossacks.
:mad: Those are filthy Jewish Cossacks. :contract:
Quote from: Valmy on February 19, 2013, 04:51:20 PM
Man I would take one look, see it was Idi Amin, and let him take whatever he wanted.
I'd re-think that position.
Don't you know what Idi Amin wanted on occasion for a snack? :lol:
Whitaker reminds me of William Shatner with that start/stop delivery of his.
Quote from: Malthus on February 19, 2013, 06:14:50 PM
Quote from: Valmy on February 19, 2013, 04:51:20 PM
Man I would take one look, see it was Idi Amin, and let him take whatever he wanted.
I'd re-think that position.
:lol:
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 19, 2013, 05:21:53 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 05:19:48 PM
My point wass, it looks a bit swankier and upscale than your traditional lower east side neighborhood family-run deli. But I haven't been to the lower east side for a while.
Did you miss the whole Alphabet City gentrfication thing?
D still sucks. :D
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 05:24:32 PM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on February 19, 2013, 05:21:53 PM
Did you miss the whole Alphabet City gentrfication thing?
I heard there are no Irishmen in Hell's Kitchen anymore, and all the Jews in Brighton Beach have been displaced by filthy Cossacks.
Hell's Kitchen is full of homos. :cool:
To your point though, that's because the Deli is on the UES.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 06:33:14 PM
Quote from: garbon on February 19, 2013, 06:29:56 PM
Hell's Kitchen is full of homos. :cool:
:bleeding:
Overall, it's a decent tradeoff. More winebars and bistros with obscure themes, less vomiting in the street.
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 05:04:54 PM
Quote from: Phillip V on February 19, 2013, 04:50:02 PM
Inside the deli:
Not exactly "Mort's Deli & Corned Beef, Est. 1947" on East Houston, now is it? Looks like a place you'd see a celebrity picking up something to knosh.
Looks like it's full of overpriced imported crap.
Quote from: citizen k on February 19, 2013, 07:16:59 PM
Quote from: CountDeMoney on February 19, 2013, 05:04:54 PM
Quote from: Phillip V on February 19, 2013, 04:50:02 PM
Inside the deli:
Not exactly "Mort's Deli & Corned Beef, Est. 1947" on East Houston, now is it? Looks like a place you'd see a celebrity picking up something to knosh.
Looks like it's full of overpriced imported crap.
Almost everything in Manhattan is imported. ;)
...as well as overpriced. :cool: