EAGLE, Idaho — Two businesses are cutting ties with each other following a racist comment made at a controversial event this past weekend. I'm talking to both businesses about parting ways.
Details behind why Old State Saloon has been axed from plans for the Red Chair Lavender annual harvest festival
"We have a lot of loyal supporters and the people that know us, know we are just farmers," shrugged Red Chair Lavender owner Bill Southerland.
Red Chair Lavender, a lavender farm out in Eagle known for over a decade for its Annual Lavender Harvest Festival, has been under fire after they released that they would be partnering with Old State Saloon as a title sponsor for this year's event.
The owner continued, "Bigots, homophobes, nazis, it didnt bother people to just harass the daylights out of us. They were going to do food and drinks. We went into it with good intentions, absolutely. They were going to be very generous with us."
Read more: Organizer responds to racist comment at 'Hetero Awesome Festival'
But after a racist comment over the weekend made by podcaster Dave Reilly at Old State Saloon’s "Hetero Awesome Fest" in Boise, the farm decided to cut ties with the bar.
We talked with Mark Fitzpatrick, owner of the Old State Saloon, who says he doesn't recall hearing the comment in the moment, and adding that in the long run, it was not a wise or kind thing to say. But he doesn't believe it was grounds to cancel the partnership.
"I understand that they can start having fear for their business and the success of their business because they have worked very hard for all of that. But they made a decision to cancel, and it was a pretty abrupt decision," explained Fitzpatrick.
Southerland added, "Everyone has their own battles to overcome and fight, and we didn't need Old State's battle."
"I still recommend that everyone for everyone to go and support them. It is a loss for the saloon because we would have been providing all the food and beverages at that festival. And it's a loss for them because whoever they hire is not going to do nearly as good of job as we would have," finished Fitzpatrick.
The Southerland family is hopeful they can now move past the controversy and welcome folks for the Annual Lavender Harvest Festival on July 5th and 6th.
