RICHMOND, VA (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The state chapter of the NAACP has leveled accusations of discrimination against the popular Richmond nightclub, Toad's Place. A number of promoters have claimed that the venue has canceled planned urban music events at the club that were being organized by outside promoters.
One of the promoters, Carleen Burrell, said that she had already distributed 10,000 flyers and sold more than 375 tickets to an August 31st event at the club only to be told it was a no-go two weeks before the event, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported.
Burrell, who is black, said that she was informed by the club that there would be no more "urban" events at the club, a definition which NAACP spokesman King Salim Khalfani said is code for events attended by African Americans.
Craig Love, a spokesman for the management team at Toad's denied the allegations. According to Love, three promoters had events cancelled, Burrell and two others in which the promoters were both black and white. The cancellations, Love says, resulted from a reevaluation by the club of how it would handle working with outside promoters and not a matter of race. He went on to note that the club was hosting a show by Nelly and Mos Def in September. –
According to Love, the club had no written guidelines for outside promoters and as a consequence, would receive inaccurate information about expected crowds and who would be paying for things such as a DJ. Now, promoters are required to fill out an application with references and allow the club to approve any event flyers. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
