Local Couple Calls Out Uptown Business For Playing Movie With Blackface

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — We got answers for a local couple who says they were embarrassed and uncomfortable at a local business in Charlotte. It happened Friday night at Sophia’s Lounge in uptown Charlotte. Alexandra and Kevin Keith, a Black couple, say they went into the business for date night. When they sat down, they noticed a black and white movie being played, and then they saw the actors in blackface.

The couple tells WCCB they asked for the movie to be turned off. They say their server told them this: “She informed us that there was a Black family that was there before us, and had the same complaint, and when she (the server) mentioned it to the manager, it was taken with a shrug,” says Alexandra Keith. Her husband Kevin adds, “So, at one point, they turned it back on.”

Sophia’s Lounge management sent WCCB a response that reads in part, “We have taken immediate action to ensure this program (or similar programming) will not be shown again. In keeping with our theme, the lounge had been playing ‘classic’ films via Turner Classic Movies.” And, “The management team has been made fully-aware of this situation and is monitoring what is broadcasted so that this will not occur again. We thoroughly and completely apologize to all of our guests for this unfortunate situation.”

The Keiths say they’d also like to be reimbursed for their bill.