Rapper Young Dolph gave two baristas fired from a college coffee shop for playing his music a cold $20,000 each in cash for their trouble.
Dolph brought out Joe Van Gogh Coffee shop baristas Britni Brown and Kevin Simmons onstage during the Rolling Loud hip-hop music festival in Miami, Florida, on Friday. The “Get Paid” artist then gifted them each the money in front of a crowd of adoring fans.
Dolph brought out the the kids who got fired from the Duke coffee shop and gave them 20 racks each ????#rollingloud2018
pic.twitter.com/JipunNpNmI— Lil Advil (@SunshineDBaby) May 11, 2018
Young Dolph is a hero of the people
— d4n (@fkasmasters) May 12, 2018
AYEEEEEEEEEEE ???????????????? REAL @YoungDolph
https://t.co/oO8vCtUEW8— Thea Vidale (@kashmirVIII) May 12, 2018
The baristas were fired on May 7, after Larry Moneta, the vice president of student affairs at Duke University, told the director of the university’s dining service May 3 that offensive music was played at the on-campus Joe Van Gogh Coffee shop.
Moneta reportedly went into the shop to get a beverage and a snack when he overheard Dolph’s “Get Paid” played over the speakers. Offended by the lyrics, he told Brown that the music was unfit for a school environment and demanded someone turn it off. Brown obliged and apologized to Moneta. She even offered to give him a free muffin. He declined the offer, paid and left the shop.
That same day, Brown received a call from the chain inquiring about the incident. The director of the university’s dining service instructed the chain to contact the workers after receiving the complaint from Moneta.
“When I got hired, the only thing that was expected for the music was for it to be cool music,” Brown said. “There was no training to make sure that your music was appropriate.”
By Monday, both employees were fired despite not having any misconduct issues before.
“Duke University has instructed us to terminate the employees that were working that day,” chain officials said, according to recordings.
The days following their termination numerous protests sprung up on campus forcing the chain to close its shop.
Robbie Roberts, the company’s owner, said in a statement posted on the Joe Van Gogh website that the decision would be effective immediately and the two employees of the Duke University shop would be offered jobs at other stores or in the production offices, according to News & Observer.
This new bit of information means Brown and Simmons will have jobs — just at another location.
