Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us” music video shoot is reported to have caused disruption and financial loss to a number of businesses in Compton — but that’s not entirely true, according to the restaurant at the heart of the dispute.
An article published on Saturday (September 14) by the Los Angeles Times claimed that a soul food restaurant named Alma’s Place located on a Compton strip mall lost thousands of dollars on the day of Kendrick’s video shoot in late June.
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The restaurant’s co-owner Corina Pleasant reportedly told the publication: “It was really disheartening to have the electricity on and gas. I’m just running everything and making no money. I literally was there for nothing, because the little money that I did make, I had to pay my staff with that.”
She added: “One day does matter. It does matter when you’re there, and you’re wasting your time. It does matter when your Edison bill is $1,000. It does matter when two weeks’ payroll for three people is nearly $3,000. It does matter when gas is $800. You’re there, all these things are running, and you have nothing to show for it.”
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The article made clear that the affected businesses “blame city officials for not providing any notice about the video shoot.”
However, it also stated that Alma’s Place and other nearby businesses were “asking Lamar, [his] production company pgLang or the city to compensate them for their losses.”
After the article began making waves online, Alma’s Place’s hit out at the Los Angeles Times for allegedly misquoting Pleasant and clarified that they have no ill will towards Kendrick.
Commenting on Akademiks‘ repost of the story on Instagram, the restaurant wrote: “THIS ENTIRE POST IS MISQUOT3D AND PUSHING A NARRATIVE THAT WE DO NOT REPRESENT. People, please do not believe everything you read. Words have been twisted and it’s not right.
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“The city should have made better decisions with notification to tax paying business owners. We, in no way, have any negative commentary for Kendrick. This was a city issue! And @akademiks you better be careful about misquoting people and twisting words. WE NEVER spoke to you so how are you misquoting verbiage as fact?”
Kendrick Lamar himself has yet to respond to the reported distruption caused by his “Not Like Us” video shoot.
The Los Angeles Times cited a number of other local Compton businesses who were also affected by the filming.
Adelfo Antonio Garcia, a co-owner of Sunny Express Gourmet Fast Food, claimed to have lost about $2,000 that day and called the situation frustrating as his restaurant was already struggling.
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“The people who suffer are the small businesses,” he said, directing his anger at the city’s lack of communication.
A spokesperson for the City of Compton told the Los Angeles Times that the city would identify “opportunities for more efficient film permit communication to our community” going forward.
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“Businesses in Compton, especially small businesses, are the backbone of our city,” the spokesperson said. “We want to continue to keep an open line of communication and do everything we can to support economic growth.”
