Korean-American YouTuber, influencer Sophia Chang was bullied at a restaurant in California, where a fellow customer asked her to "Go back to Wuhan." Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic spread, many Asians have been bullied in America.
The incident occurred at Bluewater Gril restaurant at Newport Beach in California. A Caucasian man was walking towards the bathroom and making a direct eye contact with Chang and said "Go back to Wuhan." Chang waited for him to return from the bathroom and stopped him to ask why he said such a thing. To this, the man replied "I don't speak Chinese, I don't know what you're talking about".
The Chang sisters then spoke to the manager of the restaurant in California and told her that if the man is not removed from the restaurant, they will post the video. The manager then walked up to the Caucasian man and started talking to him. The sisters then said that the manager did not take any action against the man. Instead, she offered them deserts on the house.
As the restaurant did not take any action against the man, Chang posted the video on her Instagram account that has over 543,000 followers. Following the revelation, the news was also covered by the Korean news channel MBC.
Caucasian Man Identified, Employer Responds
The man in the video has been identified as James Hilbrant. He is said to be working for Prudential Insurance. People have been demanding action against the man. Reacting to the same, Prudential too issued a statement and said that the matter will be investigated. "Prudential has zero-tolerance for discrimination. This matter will be thoroughly investigated and appropriate action will be taken," it stated. Chang has demanded that Hilbrant must be fired from his job.
Meanwhile, people also commented sating that they will never step into Bluewater Grill again. This led the restaurant to take a stand and issue a statement in this regard. The Bluewater Grill stated that the manager asked the man to leave, but did not forcibly take him out of the restaurant premises. "Within 10 minutes the person paid their bill and left the premises. The patron in question is no longer welcome at Bluewater Grill," said the post from the restaurant.
It also addressed the issue of the man in question hugging one of the employees of the hotel before he left. "There is also mention of the customer hugging our employee, and we would like to make it clear that this was unsolicited and occurred before our employee was made aware of the situation. After the patron left, we made sure that our guests were comfortable and well taken care of," added the statement.
