"I cannot support any partner that supports the Vietnamese"
City Pulse reports that a beauty industry CEO has apologised for his racist rant towards Vietnamese people.
Larry Gaynor is the CEO of TNG Worldwide – a company which claims to provide “life’s essentials and comforts”.
Gaynor made the comments whilst speaking to Diamond Partners – an exclusive membership tier of his company that only allows members who do not use Vietnamese brands.
In then now deleted post, Gaynor complains to the camera about how Vietnamese nail salons have disrupted the industry.
“There’s a few enemies in the business,” Gaynor says. “And if you’re in the nail business, the biggest enemy is the Vietnamese salon. I cannot support any partner that supports the Vietnamese. There’s just nothing I can say good for what they’ve done to our industry.”
“What they’ve done to our industry is nothing but less than destroy it. Their sanitation, their pricing, the way they talk,” he continues before mimicking the ‘sound’ of the Vietnamese language.
“I mean, we’re in America,” he says. “We talk English. We’re not in Vietnam. We’re in America. Talk English.”
“They sit back and talk Vietnamese to each other,” Gaynor continued.
Gaynor then listed the names of Vietnamese brands that nail salons should avoid.
“I mean, give me a break,” he said. “Who needs that crap? This is a new world society. We want to be treated with respect.”
The CEO has since apologised for his “mistake”.
“It came off wrong. I have a factory in Vietnam. I have many customers there,” Gaynor said. “I apologized for the remarks I made. I did not make any knowingly racist remarks. I don’t even know what that word means. I’m not that type of guy.”
“I said everything poorly, and I apologize,” Gaynor added.
In related news, Vietnamese-owned nail salons in Alabama are donating protective equipment in thousands to hospitals to combat Coronavirus.