Los Angeles bar owner on accusation NBC edited her viral video
Angela Marsden, owner of the Pineapple Hill Grill & Saloon, says she doesn't understand 'why anybody would want to' make the situation small businesses in California face with coronavirus restrictions 'smaller than what it is.'
Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill owner Angela Marsden on Tuesday brushed off NBC News’ out-of-context coverage of her viral video and stressed that people should instead focus on restaurant workers who are struggling to make ends meet as the coronavirus pandemic continues to destroy the hospitality industry.
The Media Research Center accused NBC News’ “Sunday Today" of “deceitful” editing when it reported on Marsden, a California restaurant owner who went viral after saying her restaurant was forced to close because of COVID-19 restrictions while an NBC comedy show production was allowed to feed its crew steps away.
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In the viral video, Marsden filmed herself complaining that a Hollywood crew had been allowed to set up a huge outdoor dining area a few yards from where her restaurant’s outdoor dining patio was forced to shut down.
It was later learned that the crew belonged to the NBC comedy “Good Girls." NBC News’ “Sunday Today” aired a segment about businesses suffering from lockdowns and used part of Marsden’s video, but didn’t inform viewers that her frustrations were the direct result of an NBC production being permitted by the city to serve food steps away from her shuttered business.
Marsden appeared on Fox News to discuss the ongoing situation but opted to take the high road when asked about NBC News’ segment. She told Trace Gallagher on “America’s Newsroom” that she hadn’t seen the clip and didn’t want the Peacock Network to steer the conversation away from the fact that restaurant workers are having a really difficult time amid coronavirus lockdowns.
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“The reality is right in front of our face," she said. "You can talk to your neighbor, you can talk to your brother, I wanna do this because I don’t understand why people are trying to stop the word getting out that people are hurting and that rents aren’t gonna get paid.
"I mean this is about people, it’s not about politics and I don’t really understand, you know, what or why anybody would want to make it smaller than what it is,” Marsden said before reading an email from an unemployed bartender in New Orleans who thanked her for speaking out.
“They can erase the tents, the footage is out there, the truth is the truth, I have a manager who just ran out of unemployment, she’s crying, she doesn’t even know if there is going to be an extension,” Marsden said. “I have another one, a bartender, couch-surfing because she ran out a while ago… this is about my employees. It’s about every bartender, every server out there and anybody that wants to change that story can try all they want.”
Marsden said anyone trying to change the story simply doesn’t seem to care about “people who are hurting right now.”
Marsden’s viral video showed the NBC comedy crew’s setup of tents, tables and chairs to illustrate how close it is to her business.
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“So this is my place, the Pineapple Hill Grill & Saloon. If you go to my [Facebook] page you can see all the work I did for outdoor dining, for tables being seven feet apart,” Marsden said.
“And I come in today because I’m organizing a protest and I came in to get stuff for that. And I walk into my parking lot, and obviously Mayor Garcetti has approved … this,” she continued, pointing to the tent setup. “Has approved this being set up for … a movie company.
“I’m losing everything. Everything I own is being taken away from me and they set up a movie company right next to my outdoor patio, which is right over here,” she continues, her voice trembling with emotion. “And people wonder why I’m protesting and why I have had enough. They have not given us money and they have shut us down. We cannot survive, my staff cannot survive.
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“Look at this. Tell me that this is dangerous,” she says, pointing to her own patio, “but right next to me, as a slap in my face, that’s safe. This is safe? Fifteen feet away?"
The Times noted that the setup was permitted by the city.
Fox News’ Dom Calicchio contributed to this report.
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