A racism scandal which has erupted at Atlanta’s Philips Arena has lifted the lid on how some of Pop’s grandest acts are treated by security staff behind the scenes at live music venues.
A former Atlanta Seahawks security manager, who doubled as the head of event security at Philips claims that its owners go to great lengths to discriminate against black artists while bowing to the requests of their white peers.
Sam Hayes says that he was fired after revealing that he was aware that his white bosses (employed by the Hawks) were forcing black artists to face intense and time-consuming security checks while placing the safety of attendees in danger by allowing white acts to pass through its halls sans the same precautions.
Which acts were denied access to the venue if they refused to walk through a metal detector?
Kanye West — DENIED
The Comedy Get Down World Tour (Cedric the Entertainer, Eddie Griffin, D.L. Hughley) — DENIED
DRAKE- DENIED
2 Chainz, Jeezy, The Dream — DENIED
Old School Hip Hop Fest — DENIED
Migos — DENIED
Tyler Perry — DENIED
Katt Williams — DENIED
Amy Schumer — GRANTED
Adele — GRANTED
Ariana Grande — GRANTED (Hayes says she “doesn’t like people looking at her”).
WWE Live Tour — GRANTED
Bon Jovi — GRANTED
Ringling Brothers — GRANTED
Interesting.
The Hawks deny Hayes’ claims and claim he was given the boot because of his “poor performance.”
Billing his claims are baseless, the team’s leaders have vowed to defend themselves against them “vigorously.”