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NYC retailers drop brewer after CEO makes anti-vax statements
Stores and restaurants across Brooklyn are removing beers from Threes Brewing following anti-vax statements by its co-founder and CEO Joshua Stylman.
The move came following declarations made by Threes Brewing boss where he compared vaccine mandates to policies of the Jim Crow South and Nazi Germany.
After shocking beer fans, Stylman went on to defend and reinstate his claim that Covid-19 vaccine mandates are a “crime against humanity” adding a blog post referencing tweets comparing them to an anti-democracy Nazi decree.
Stylman wrote in post: “As to the specific tweets comparing vaccine mandates to historical atrocities, I stand by my comments”.
“What I am saying is I am against discrimination, and these mandates discriminate by creating a two-tier society based on arbitrary biomedical status.”
According to reports, Stylman’s defence did little to appease Brooklyn restaurant owners and managers who revealed that they have already pulled Threes brews from their menus.
Colonia Verde beverage director Noah Manskar, said: “I don’t want our guests coming in and seeing a Threes beer on our menu and thinking that we tacitly endorse [Stylman’s] incredibly offensive and medically inaccurate views. Workers in the hospitality industry are being protected by vaccine mandates and anyone who’s saying otherwise has no place at the helm of a business that relies on those workers.”
Manskar added: “I think he’s betraying the people who work in the industry upon which his company depends.”
According to reports in Patch, Stylman’s message has prompted Threes Brewing employees to publicly condemn their CEO, which emboldened BKLYN Larder owner Mandy Wynn to remove the beers from her shelves and publish an explanation as to why.
Wynn said: “The statement from Threes frustrated me because it seems hollow without any action behind it. But it was also clear to me that [the employees] couldn’t take action, so I felt like I could.”
However, Stylman criticised those who said they’d boycott Threes Brewing beers because of his views, stating that any boycott would hurt his employees more than him.
Wynn pointed out that such new warnings from him were not good enough and highlighted that: “If the business starts to suffer now, it’s not random. It’s not the fault of the employees.”
In response, Stylman has highlighted the supportive responses his blog post received on Twitter from others who oppose vaccine mandates and continues his cause.
Vinny Milburn, owner of Greenpoint Fish & Lobster Co, which hosts a pop-up in Threes’ Greenpoint location has reportedly said: “There’s nothing concrete as of yet, but if we don’t stay through the summer it would be entirely because of [Stylman’s] statements. We firmly believe that vaccination and vaccine mandates are beneficial to the community at large.”
Siobhan Greene, a New York City healthcare worker, who planned to have her wedding at Threes’ flagship location in a matter of months is now second guessing her decision, despite flying family to the venue and having paid a non-refundable deposit.
Greene explained: “I chose Threes because it’s a local, independently-run business where I felt good about spending my money,” but lamented “I’m devastated that Josh has taken that away from me.”
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