Seattle Bar Slammed Over Discount For Customers Sick With COVID

A bar in the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood, Washington, is being criticized for a promotion it posted on Facebook, offering a ticket discount to customers that showed up to a show it was hosting with proof of an Omicron-positive test. The promotion has since been labeled a joke by the establishment's owner.

The pirate-themed bar, Vessel Taphouse, advertised an upcoming show at its establishment on Facebook on Jan. 21, saying that people should, “Come see the show, maybe catch the virus or just stay home and whine.”

Vessel Taphouse owner Steve Hartley told The Daily Herald since posting the promotion, which he called an “an ill-advised attempt at humor,” four employees quit, and three bands refused to play a show that weekend.

The post, which has since been removed from the bar’s website, caused the Seattle-based headliner Atrocity Girl to pull out of a show after they said they were “really disturbed” by the bar’s behavior, and added that they “do not think COVID is a joke.”

"We certainly didn't want to be a part of that at all, because not only does it look bad, but it's that would just make it look like we accept that behavior, and that's not what we do, that's not who we are,” Johnny Angel, lead vocalist for the band, told KCPQ, a Fox affiliate out of Seattle.

“It definitely hits a nerve—it's not a joke, and there's a lot of people even close to home that are they're dying from this,” he added.

Hartley told The Daily Herald the employee responsible for the show advertisement has been fired, but he is keeping their identity protected due to “nasty” online comments.

“We were getting comments that we were trying to infect the public,” Hartley told the news outlet. “Clearly we have no interest in that. People aren’t going to come and drink if they get sick, and we know that.”

Comments have been limited on Vessel Taphouse’s most recent Facebook posts due to the backlash.

Hartley also said that the bar has been unable to pay rent and was forced to let employees go, who he said, will now “be in pretty dire straits in terms of paying their rent and feeding themselves.”