This was posted on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 by Rodney Ho on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
Bo Bice, the season four runner up who now lives in Covington, posted yesterday on social media that he felt he was mistreated at a Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Popeyes by black employees last week.
He said one of them made fun of his name, calling him "Bo Bo" at one point and another condescendingly used the term "that white boy."
"Using terminology like boy to a grown man?" he said in an interview with me Tuesday. "That is offensive. And it is intended to belittle."
He received a call from the franchise manager on Saturday, who apologized and asked what she could do for him.
Bice asked the employee in question not be fired but merely suspended and given some sensitivity training. He also asked her to post an apology on his Facebook post about the incident. The former happened. The latter didn't.
His original Facebook post included thousands of comments, some very disparaging of Popeyes. Facebook took the post down, saying it didn't comply with standards. This move incensed Bice.
"That is censorship," said Bice, who is also lead singer of the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. "That is a company taking control of what people view of them."
So he went to Fox 5 to talk about the situation and re-posted his original story on Facebook.
Not everyone on Twitter found his complaints valid.
Fox 5 broke the story and the reporter Natalie Fultz wrote this:
Fox 5 reported that the employee who called him "the white boy" was suspended and the Popeyes franchise operator officially apologized publicly as well after he went public.
Mack II, Inc. is very sorry that the incident occurred and for any pain or embarrassment that Mr. Bice experienced. The company does not condone the behavior of one of our associates and we took corrective action as soon as we were made aware of the incident. Also, we will require re-training of our associates to ensure this isolated incident does not occur again. In addition, Mr. Bice has been issued an apology by the General Manager. We value all of our customers regardless of race, religion, age, disability, gender, etc.
Bice said he travels frequently and eats at that Popeyes in Terminal B regularly. This is the first time he felt he was not treated right.
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The singer who beat Bice in 2005 Carrie Underwood made a surprise appearance at a Christian Passion Conference at the Georgia Dome on Monday night.
She joined Christian artist David Crowder on stage.
The Passion movement, established in 1995, draws students from college campuses in worship and prayers and runs three days through Wednesday.
https://www.facebook.com/Passion268/photos/a.498514484921.289271.274645974921/10155690902734922/?type=3
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Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Jennifer Hudson is a judge on "The Voice UK" with Gavin Rossdale (lead singer of Bush), will.i.am (of Black Eyed Peas) and singer Tom Jones.
Jennifer told the Daily Star she plans to be ruthless. "I'm going to take their necks off… watch! People want a battle and I agree."
She targeted will.i.am as her biggest rival: "Will is competitive when he does turn around. He's the hardest one to get to turn around, but when he sees someone he wants he's going to get them. And then Tom, he's the big dog."
Here she is with the other judges singing "Under Pressure."
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