Celebrity chef José Andrés, a noted outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, attended the posh Alfalfa Club dinner in Washington, D.C., Saturday night. However, when he later was denied entry into the extremely exclusive after party at Cafe Milano in Georgetown, he took to Twitter to personally accuse Ivanka Trump.
Thank you @CafeMilanoDC Franco Nuschese! I was a guest of the #alfalfaclubdinner2018 “everyone”welcome to the after party, but I’m the only individual not allow in? Is because @IvankaTrump told you so? You should be ashamed of yourself Franco.@washingtonpost pic.twitter.com/iJ5wQM18Z6
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) January 28, 2018
The tweet was retweeted more than 12,000 times and everyone from celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain to Mexico’s former ambassador to China rallied behind Andrés. However, less than 24 hours later, Andrés walked back his statement. Not only did he admit that his name wasn’t on the guest list, but also that he believed Ivanka “personally had nothing to do” with his lack of an invite.
Thank you @IvankaTrump for reaching out. I believe now that you personally had nothing to do.
Let’s now work on what’s important: Immigration reform, where #DACADreamers and Undocumented citizens will become part of a strong USA. With secure borders. With economic growth.👍🏼— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) January 28, 2018
But don’t let the perceived olive branch fool you – Andrés still believes there’s a nefarious reason for his exclusion.
Thank you @CafeMilanoDC and Franco for the apology. I understand was a “misunderstanding”. Still hard to understand why I was the only person not allowed in! Please people of @washingtondc keep supporting a great resturant institution. Now let’s all be friends. #USAforward
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) January 28, 2018
Let’s not confuse my trying to Be generous and move on, with anything else. What happened happened and I stand by my account. I’m ready to move on. @washingtonpost @CafeMilanoDC let’s talk #ImmigrationReform @realdonaldtrump #DACADreamers
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) January 28, 2018
But someone with connections to her made the call to not let me in…Could Be she didn’t know, but it did happen….and this is not the Washington we know… https://t.co/47F2Ohjerk
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) January 29, 2018
This, quite frankly, is ridiculous. The Alfalfa Club dinner is one of the most VIP tickets in Washington, typically reserved for uber-rich business folk and political bigwigs; this year’s guest list included the likes of Apple CEO Tim Cook, 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch, former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, and former president George W. Bush. Andrés should have felt extremely privileged to be included among such titans of industry. Instead, he felt entitled to an invite to the after party – which is even more exclusive than the dinner – and threw a fit when he realized he wasn’t on the guest list, conveniently shaming Ivanka in the process.
As Trump would say: sad!
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