Woman claims London restaurant discriminated against her for being 'bigger'

A young woman claimed she was discriminated against for being "bigger" at a lavish London restaurant. So much so, she was handed a denim jacket to cover up.

Katie Haywood (@katiehaywood_x), 21, turned to TikTok to explain how she had "dressed up nice" for birthday celebrations at the restaurant, MNKY HSE. She opted for a pink bikini-style top with a patterned cut-out skirt – which the Mayfair restaurant reportedly disapproved of.

"We turned up at the door, and the security lady on the door goes to me, 'You can't come in like that. You need to change what you're wearing,'" Katie said.

"I was like, 'Oh, I don't have anything else.' And she was like to my friends, 'Oh, do you have a jacket? 'She could have seen none of us had one," she continued.

"I was like, 'Why is that?' And she was like, 'Because there's a lot of Arab families in here. You can't be coming in dressed like that.'

"I said, 'It doesn't state this on your website though, 'cause I did check before we came.'"

Katie said she reluctantly turned her skirt into a dress, claiming she was expected to do so in front of male staff members "in the middle of the road".

The employee allegedly laughed when she addressed how awkward she felt: "What's awkward is you're dressed like you're going to the beach."

TikTok/@katiehaywood_x

Katie said she was eventually allowed to enter the venue, given that she agreed to wear a "denim jacket they had found" to cover up her "revealing" outfit. She alleged that when she asked whether she could put it over her shoulders as it didn't fit the staff member said no.

"I said: 'Do you want me to cut off the blood circulation in my arm?'"

The TikToker believes the real reason behind the issue was her body size.

"One of my friends had a mesh dress on, and you could see her bra and pants. My other friend had her stomach on show," she continued. "But there was only a problem with mine because I'm a bigger girl."

Katie claimed the restaurant seated her and her friends "in a hut away from everyone," so she thought it would be okay to remove the jacket to eat "because it was very hot."

Immediately, the woman returned and told her, "you're going to have to put it on, or you'll have to leave," Katie said.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

She said her best friend later complained to management, and the group were offered free food.

The alleged experience certainly divided TikTok, with many showing support for Katie.

"Thing is, if she was stick thin they wouldn’t have said anything. Your outfit was cute girl," one said, while another reiterated: "You looked beautiful girl, don’t let them get you down."

A third supportive user added, "Nothing wrong with what you was wearing you looked absolutely stunning. You did follow the dress code you dressed to impress."

Some, however, believed the outfit was not suitable for the restaurant with one saying: "The outfit is nice, but I agree it’s inappropriate for a restaurant, no hate intended."

Indy100 reached out to MNKY HSE for comment.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.