The owner of an Orlando bar and grill cited his “Biblical faith” in response to public backlash for removing Bud Light from his restaurant’s shelves due to the company’s recent hiring of a trans spokesperson.
Joe Penovich, who owns Grills Lakeside Seafood Deck & Tiki Bar at 4301 N Orange Blossom Trail, issued the statement on Monday, April 17, after rumors spread online that a manager used a slur to describe the restaurant’s new policy.
In his statement, Penovich discredits the statement and indicates that he has attempted to find the individual who levied the “serious allegations” about what they overheard at the business.
“I can assure you, our patrons and employees, many who know me personally and followed the Grills story, this post is not true and not remotely characteristic of who we are or what our reputation in the community has been for over 25 years,” said Penovich.
Penovich went on to state that his business and its employees were “devastated by the fact that” the post “hurt members of the gay community” and his employees.
“This for me personally and Grills as a company is the first time we have really experienced an attempt to defame our character. But I get it, these are the times we are in, there is a divide growing deeper and angrier over this and many other issues,” said Penovich.
In the second half of his statement, Penovich defends the decision to remove Bud Light, citing “their support of something that is in direct opposition to our Biblical faith.”
“There is no judgement in our heart concerning those who believe in these rapidly changing social values. But there is a lie being levied that we and other Christians hate Dylan Mulvaney and the gay community. Nothing could be further from the truth in our hearts and minds,” reads the statement.
Penovich indicated that the decision to remove the beer from his restaurant’s shelves was “made with many tears for this circumstance” and what the company sees as “corporate greed and a deeper spiritual reality coming upon this world.”
Mulvaney was contracted by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the company that sells Bud Light, earlier this year to promote the brand. Since then, the company saw its stock dip over 5%, before recovering in the past several days.
Last week, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth issued a statement on behalf of the company, indicating that he cares “deeply about this country, this company, our brands, and our partners.”
“Setting aside a deeper dive into our Biblical viewpoints for now, we believe transgenderism is a social experiment causing irreversible damage to a growing population of younger and younger children. We will not align with it in any way,” reads the statement. “We are prayerfully asking God how to separate from corporations such as Anheuser-Busch that are promoting and attempting to profit from this experiment.”