While the Average Joe and Plain Jane generally prefer to enjoy sports without being politically bombarded, political tensions have been at an all-time high for this year’s Super Bowl. That said, sports bars are supposed to be ideal spots where you can just focus on the game, but one pub owner couldn’t help themself when they forced political censorship straight onto their customers. More specifically, the Walnut Room Saloon in Tustin, California, had the Super Bowl playing when, suddenly, all screens switched to a Kid Rock concert during Bad Bunny’s halftime performance.
“Who does this at a sports bar during the biggest game of the year?” questioned a patron who was at the Walnut Room during the live game. “It completely killed the energy, and a ton of people (including myself) just paid our tabs and left immediately,” they recalled, posting their frustration to r/mildlyinfuriating. They weren’t the only ones upset by what the owner did; plenty of other customers present at the time took their complaints to Yelp, review-bombing the bar for censoring the halftime show.
“Imagine being so racist, so uneducated that you don’t know that everyone born in Puerto Rico IS an American citizen,” says one patron. Another left a low-star rating, saying that they were truly disappointed that the Super Bowl wasn’t “was not shown in its entirety,” ruining the entire night for everyone. “This is a MAGA establishment,” adds a third. Dozens and dozens more share their distaste for the Walnut Room’s censorship and the pure disrespect for sports-loving customers.
To no one’s surprise, the owner of the Walnut Room came out defending what they did during the Super Bowl’s halftime, leaving a provocative apology: “I’m very sorry if some of you were offended by us switching to [a] pro-America concert instead of a concert that we could not even understand because it was in Spanish.” Of course, that didn’t sit too well with customers and online users either, as they started leaving more negative reviews and comments based on that response alone.
Fortunately for the owner, the MAGA crowd came to the rescue, doing their best to raise the Yelp rating back up, but what the sports bar owner did will be on the internet forever. Of course, some people will eventually forget or not care, but the Walnut Room has definitely hurt its reputation and customer base in the long run. One Reddit commenter said what many are probably thinking about this situation: “Way to destroy your business…just wow.”
