Duke University’s Vice President of Student Affairs Larry Moneta is not impressed with Young Dolph‘s lyrical stylings.
Shortly after hearing the Memphis rapper’s “Get Paid” at Duke’s Joe Van Gogh coffee shop, Moneta demanded the employee in charge of the music on that particular day be fired.
On “Get Paid,” Dolph repeatedly chants, “Get paid, young nigga, get paid.”
According to IndyWeek.com, Moneta informed employee Britni Brown the song was “inappropriate.”
Brown reportedly apologized to Moneta and offered him a vegan muffin for free. She said Moneta insisted that he pay for the muffin, stating “You need to ring me up for it right now.”
Kevin Simmons, an employee working as a barista on the day of the incident believed what he witnessed was Moneta “harassing” Brown.
On Monday (May 7), a rep for Joe Van Gogh’s human resources department asked that both Brown and Simmons resign. In audio from Brown and Simmons’ meeting with HR, Brown, who is African-American, suggested Simmons was fired solely to save face.
“For [Simmons, a white man] to be fired because of this, it is not fair,” Brown said in audio obtained by IndyWeek.com. “I feel like you guys were trying to cover it up as to make it not look discriminatory for firing a person of color.”
In an email statement to IndyWeek, Moneta wrote, “I expressed my objections to the staff with whom I’ve always had a cordial relationship. I insisted on paying for my purchase and left the store. I then contacted the director of Duke Dining to express my concerns and that was the end of my involvement.”
Both Brown and Simmons were offered and later accepted severance packages. It’s currently unclear if either of the two will take legal action. [apple_news_ad type=”any”]
Larry Monetta on Yo Gotti payroll y’all
Trying to turn this to a race thing. That’s a stupid song to play in a cafe, not least because it’s garbage.
Not the sort of music you play in a café. Sometimes common sense is missing.
Ah America. Everything made into a racial issue when the fkn clown just should be fired who played the inappropriate song. I don’t completely blame Moneta though. Look what happened with that Starbucks BS.
While It was a dumb thing to do, I think going above and beyond to have someone fired is a dick move. I think to be fired for that is dumb, pull the kid to the side and write him up our whatever but to fire someone for that is a bit much. That’s just me though.