Cornwall carnival organiser defends publican who 'blacked up' as Venus Williams
Kevin Stevens, of the Miners Arms in Redruth, and his friend Jason Luke, were branded racist after wearing fake tan, women’s tennis clothes and black wigs to dress up as Venus and Serena Williams at Truro City Carnival last week.
In total 15 of the pub staff dressed up as famous tennis players and played matches on the Miners float, which was covered in grass.
Six local residents complained – three directly to the festival organisers and three to local paper West Briton – but event organiser Claire Arymar said the situation has been “blown out of proportion”.
'Inappropriate not racist'
“It was an inappropriate oversight, not some racist jibe,” she said.
“It’s a shame because the float was really well conceived and the match itself was hilarious.
“They never meant to hurt anyone. You just don’t always think things through.”
Arymar said she told the festival committee to remove all pictures of the pub’s float from its website and Facebook page, “while this is an issue”. However, despite rumours, she said she would “never” ban Stevens from attending the festival next year.
“I’d have to review his costume, but I’d have him back in a heartbeat. I’m just worried I’ve put him off.”
'It's been exaggerated'
Stevens told the PMA he was sorry for any offence he has caused, but said he has since had overwhelming support from locals, including over 100 messages on the pub’s Facebook site.
“We’re not racist. If we did offend anybody then we apologise for it,” he said.
“But I think it’s been exaggerated. We looked great and everyone gave us their support. Now looking at comments online, not a single person said we were in the wrong.”
