A Milton Keynes restaurant has been plagued with negative reviews after they refused to serve English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, alleged in a video that he was refused service at newly-opened restaurant Wing Kingz because of his “politics”.
In a video recorded by Robinson, he alleged that he was being discriminated against.
A supervisor is heard explaining that none of the staff members are happy to serve him. He enquired why, and the supervisor said she does not “need to spell it out for you”.
He repeatedly asks for the owner, and at one point tells the supervisor that she needs to contact the owner because he will “bring 500 people and shut the restaurant down because you are about to discriminate against me”.
Later in the video, Robinson turned to face the camera and said: “Get on your reviews because if you have a certain political view or you think a certain way, they don’t want you to eat in here.”
A clip from the video of Tommy Ten Names having a meltdown as Wing Kingz in Milton Keynes refused to serve him. Full video in comments, will also add the links that you can support Wing Kingz. pic.twitter.com/71sFrBqyEU
— Ireland against Fascism (@IrlagainstFash) October 31, 2021
In a statement published on Monday, Wing Kingz said they have “received many fake negative reviews over the past few days”.
The restaurant said the reviews follow “an incident whereby our customers and staff were made to feel uncomfortable by another customer.”
Business update. pic.twitter.com/OIJKB51dIV
— Wing Kingz (@thewingkingz) November 1, 2021
It seems that, as of Wednesday morning, the fake reviews have been removed.
The “newest” review on Google reviews dates “a week ago”, and all Tripadvisor reviews left in recent days have been favourable.
In a screenshot of a Google review reposted to Twitter, one user wrote: “Awful service, staff too busy finding out what my political views are before they would serve me, went to maccys instead. Let’s go brandon.” [sic]
However, indy100 cannot verify this review as the post is no longer visible on Google.
Tommy fanboys clearly leaving fake reviews. pic.twitter.com/sc3bc2hrzr
— ZedsDadBaby (@ZedsDadBaby) October 31, 2021
The restaurant’s statement continues: “Wing Kingz does not tolerate racism or discrimination in any shape or form. We are a diverse business with customers and staff from all backgrounds and are committed to creating a safe, comfortable environment for everyone who steps through our doors.
“This matter is now with the police, and anything further will be dealt with by them.
“To our wonderful customers, friends and family, thank you for your continued support.”
Last year alone, according to Google, the site blocked 55 million reviews and nearly three million fake business profiles that violated their strict policies. The tech giant uses machine learning models to look out for specific words and phrases that point to “bad actors” and “misleading” people and are able to detect suspicious patterns.
In a statement to indy100, a Thames Valley Police spokesperson said: “Thames Valley Police has received a report of harassment following an incident that occurred at Wing Kingz, Milton Keynes, on Saturday (30/10). An investigation is currently ongoing. Anyone with information can contact police by calling 101 or making a report online quoting reference 43210492898.”
Indy100 has contacted both Wing Kingz and Tommy Robinson for comment.
