Singer Raye accuses The Ivy of racism after black friend in casual clothes is refused entry – but white pal in gym gear is allowed in
The 20-year-old said she was left 'heartbroken' by the incident at swanky London restaurant The Ivy Chelsea
SINGER Raye has accused a posh London restaurant of "disgusting and blatant racism".
The 20-year-old was left reeling after her black friend was denied entry because he did not comply with the 'smart dress code' but claims no-one batted an eyelid to her white friend wearing gym wear.
Top restaurant The Ivy Chelsea has hit back saying some of her group did not adhere to the dress code and it had "nothing to do with racism".
The singer, real name Rachel Kee, said the front of house refused to let her black, male friend due to his trainers. She claims her white female friend was allowed in while wearing shorts, trainers and a jumper.
In a video posted to Instagram Raye says: "You let my white friend in and she's dressed like this and you don't let my black friend in?"
The female member of staff standing in the doorway responds: "Stop taking a video, I'm not allowing you."
Walking away the Brit-school star urges friends: "Come on, let's go. We're not coming back to The Ivy again. It's disgusting. It's absolutely disgusting. It's racist""
Continuing her scathing attack Raye uploaded a screengrab of an email exchange with the restaurant to her 100,000 followers telling them she was "heartbroken" by the incident.
She captioned: "Explain to me why is says on your website ";There is NO DRESS CODE at @ivychelsgarden.
"What I experienced was heartbreaking. I was shaking. Explicit racism. Not in MY CITY. Plz share.
In a statement the restaurant said: "The dress code for out restaurant is smart casual. We are sorry that this was not made clear on our website and other channels and that ambiguity has now been rectified.
"The Ivy Chelsea Garden takes all allegations of racism extremely seriously and we will make sure that our dress code is explained to all guests so that this confusion does not happen again."
The incident comes a week after Starbucks was accused of racism after two black men were arrested for sitting down in a store.
Days later the coffee giant was accused of racism again after a member of staff 'told a black man he couldn't use the toilet.'
Following worldwide backlash and a campaign to boycott Starbucks the company forced staff at 8,000 stores to undergo 'racial-bias' training.
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