Popular Nairobi nightclub The Alchemist has released a statement after racism allegations went viral this past weekend.
The Alchemist is on the spot yet again for allegations of discrimination against Black people. This time accused of having separate queues for Black patrons and the others of Caucasian and Asian descent.
It began on Sunday, May 29, when a social media user posted a video clip that purported to show the bar’s bouncers sending a Black patron out of the queue which appeared to only have non-Blacks.
In a statement issued late Sunday, The Alchemist apologized for the incident, saying, “To anyone that has felt aggrieved, we sincerely apologize, and we look forward to sitting down together and addressing these issues head-on.”
“Since we opened our doors, The Alchemist has always been a home to welcome creators, partners, musicians, and customers from all different backgrounds,” the statement further read.
The club would later follow it up with a series of tweets distancing itself from the allegations, writing: “We have reviewed footage from the alleged incident and we’re sharing it for everyone to see. There is only one entrance line for people to come in from. There are people of every background in that line, wrote the bar alongside what it claimed was CCTV footage of the entrance from Saturday night.
The club further went ahead to say that it had reached out to the man who was supposedly sent away via phone, “and he confirmed he had no issues, he didn’t even know that camera footage of him had been filmed and released.”
“We will update security & procedures,” added the joint.
In August 2018, it came under fire after a customer identified as Cynthia claimed that a guard had refused her seating on grounds that the seats were only meant for White people and Kenyans of Asian descent.