Update: B.o.B Acts Hollywood…Refuses To Pay $1,060 Bar Tab

13 years ago view-show 747,351

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Update: These guys did the right thing, and I can’t hate on that.  However, I doubt if this story had not gotten so much press that bill dispute would have been resolved.  Via The Cornell Sun:

“I just want to make it right by Level B, and I want the people of Cornell to know that we’re a class act,” said Brian Richardson, B.o.B.’s manager.

Richardson stressed that B.o.B. – who performed in Barton Hall on Saturday – was not personally aware the bill was unpaid. On Tuesday, however, B.o.B. tweeted “There’s 2 sides to every story.”

Level B owner Brad Weiss ’03 said he would accept only $1,060, which would cover the tab and the gratuity for B.o.B.’s server, Andrew Vipond ’07. Weiss added that, although he believes B.o.B. and his manager were in the wrong, he appreciated the payment.

“They were really apologetic,” Weiss said. “High marks to these guys.”

Come on B.o.B!  You are better than this!  I get their whole defense that in certain situations people pay B.o.B to come places.  However B.o.B is in small town America not LA or NYC.  Plus this country is struggling, and the guy who is on Forbes lists is acting too Hollywood to pay his bar tab?  Weak!  Especially considering how the owners of the spot specifically reference how Drake & the Gym Class Heroes had no problem paying for their drinks.  According to The Cornell Sun:

Staff members at Level B said they felt played by B.o.B. on Saturday when, according to the bar’s management, the famed hip-hop artist refused to pay his $1,060 bill.

Level B owner Brad Weiss said that B.o.B. and his coterie of about 12 people ordered three bottles of $300 Grey Goose Vodka, received a complimentary bottle of champagne and were given priority service at their reserved bar space. But later in the night, the group left without paying its bill, which would have included $160 in gratuity, according to Anthony Vipond ’07, B.o.B.’s  principal waiter on Saturday.

Vipond said that, bill in hand, he chased B.o.B. and his entourage onto the street, hoping to receive compensation for the hour-and-a-half he spent serving the group.

“[B.o.B.’s manager] said, ‘We’re doing you a favor for not charging you … When we go to clubs, we get paid to come,'” Vipond said. “I said, ‘This is Ithaca, this is a different town. Things get handled a little differently here.'”

Throughout the night, B.o.B. and his group thanked the Level B staff for its service, Vipond said.

“When they were thanking me I thought it was for great service, not for the fact that they weren’t willing to pay for anything,” Vipond said. “We took care of him as best we could; we went out of his way for everything.”

Weiss emphasized that, although Vipond erred in not asking for a credit card earlier, at no point did someone from the group say that they expected to drink for free.

B.o.B.’s unpaid tab was “financially, not a big deal for us,” Weiss said. He added, however, that B.o.B.’s presence did not dramatically increase the bar’s business on Saturday.

“Just because B.o.B. showed up, it didn’t mean we did any more sales – some people ran in, stood around B.o.B. and his entourage, and then they left, without buying drinks,” Weiss said.

The Level B employees said they have had better experience with other celebrities who have visited the bar.

“Celebrities that have visited the bar previously – Drake and members of the Gym Class Heroes, for example – have always paid,” Weiss said. “None of us had any idea at the time that [B.o.B. and his group] did not expect to pay for anything.”

Weiss said that his annoyance with B.o.B. did not stem from the amount of money the bar lost.

“It just hurt our pride that they did not think that our service or liquor was worth anything more than them showing up, and that we should know it,” Weiss said. “We got over that quickly – realizing that maybe they are famous, but it doesn’t mean they are cool.”

Vipond agreed.

“That was the message they sent me: ‘I’m famous, I don’t have to pay for anything and I can get whatever I want,'” Vipond said. “And it’s too bad, because they’re the ones who can afford it.”