Sham Idrees and Queen Froggy from YouTube have recently been accusing Canadian cafe chain Demetres of Islamophobia via social media.
In a video shared on their Instagrams, the duo claimed that their family was denied service due to their apparent Muslim faith. Following this, the café chain rejected the allegations and stated that they could not serve them due to seating constraints.
Idrees revealed the following incident details: “We have only had the worst of our life. The racist servers advised us that you will not serve ‘people of your kind.’ All hijabis are my wife and intimate family members.”
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Queen Froggy captioned the video on her handle, “I am so heartbroken.” Demetres Oakville refused to take our order and directed us to leave because we were Muslim and wore hijab. I am so repulsed. Go to Google Maps, click Review, and give [Demetres] one star with #BanIslamophobia. Let us ensure that this never happens again!”
“We just returned from Demetres,” she stated in the video. It is a dessert café located in the province of Ontario, Canada. I brought my children, my family, and a few of my hijabi friends with me. We desired dessert and a night out. The servers at that location were adamantly opposed to taking our order. They asked us to leave the restaurant and threatened to call the cops if we did not, which they did because we are Muslim, and they refused to take our order.”
Demetres stated in a statement that it believes “there was a misunderstanding between employees and guests regarding seating arrangements due to Covid-19 restrictions.” “The situation deteriorated, and the guests were asked to leave,” the statement continued. While some support Idrees and Froggy’s claims, many on social media believe that the café representatives’ words were misconstrued and thus that the YouTubers’ portrayal is exaggerated.
Specific individuals have gone so far as to accuse Idrees and Froggy of ‘lying.’ Kanwal Ahmed, the founder of the popular Facebook group Soul Sisters Pakistan, took to Instagram to share the vloggers’ stories and call them out for doing a “disservice to Muslims in Canada” by fabricating a scenario in which his wife was discriminated against for wearing a hijab. She believes their allegation “undermines legitimate Islamophobia complaints.”
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The 31-year-old, one of Facebook’s 115 Community Leaders who use the social network to help others, included testimony from witnesses who testified that Idrees’ family was barred from the café for failing to follow Covid-19 regulations.
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The majority of netizens also point out how the vloggers’ video provides a one-sided narrative, particularly with the restaurant managers’ voices being inaudible.
On the other hand, Idrees has responded to the criticism by uploading another video “with proof” of the incident. However, several viewers continue to request that the YouTuber share the entire confrontation rather than simply snippets of the event.