‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Torchwood’ actor says he was ‘kicked out’ of Tacoma McMenamins Friday
British-American actor John Barrowman says he was kicked out of McMenamins Elks Temple Friday in Tacoma.
Barrowman is appearing at Summer Con this weekend in Puyallup.
In an Instagram post, Barrowman, the star of BBC sci-fi series “Torchwood” and a “Doctor Who” regularly reoccurring character, said he and a companion tried to have dinner in one of several restaurants in the Elks Temple.
“We just had the weirdest thing happen to us,” Barrowman narrates into the camera with the Elks Temple in the background.
“In a polite way, the gentlemen guided us out of one restaurant, took us to another and kind of persuaded us not to come in,” Barrowman said. Presumably, “the gentleman” was a McMenamins staffer.
“Kicked us out,” Barrowman’s companion says. “Kicked us out,” Barrowman repeats.
“So, Tacoma, not a good recommendation,” Barrowman says. Then, he looks up at the building.
“McMenamins,” he says. “McNot.”
Barrowman has 1.4 million followers on his Instagram account. He also posted the video to Twitter.
In a comment, a McMenamins account replied, “Oh no! So sorry to hear this happened! We’ll shoot you a DM and help get to the bottom of this.”
Some of the 736 comments on the post suggested that the incident was an act of LGBTQ+ discrimination. Barrowman is gay as was the character he played on “Torchwood” and “Doctor Who”, Capt. Jack Harkness.
McMenamins is publicly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community and sells Pride t-shirts and hoodies.
Renee Rank Ignacio, a spokesperson for McMenamins, told The News Tribune that the company had reached out to Barrowman and he told them he didn’t feel the incident had anything to do with sexual orientation.
“Not a very good impression @mcmenamins We were basically escorted out and told politely you can’t eat here,” Barrowman wrote on his post.
Other commenters on Barrowman’s post suggested the restaurants were just busy and that the staffer handled the issue poorly. Rank Ignacio confirmed that assessment.
“Through investigation of the matter, the property was very busy with a wait of 45+ minutes to sit for a meal,” Rank Ignacio said. “Staff members took the extra initiative to lead several customers throughout the evening to other parts of the building to show that there were other options to enjoy a meal. Obviously the intent was not clear to the customer and we apologize for that. We will learn from this interaction with the goal to communicate better with our customers.”
Some of Barrowman’s other credits include “Arrow”, “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” and “Zero Dark Thirty”.
Barrowman, who was born in Scotland and raised in Illinois, seemed unaware that McMenamins is a regional chain with 56 locations in Oregon and Washington.
Other celebrities appearing this weekend at Summer Con held at the Washington State Fairgrounds include Vincent D’Onofrio, Ming Na-Wen, Jonathan Frakes, Levar Burton, Giancarlo Esposito, Jesse Ventura, Jason Priestley and dozens more.
This story was originally published June 24, 2023 at 10:01 AM.
