More trouble has occurred for Southern Charm star Kathryn Dennis as friends and business associates are distancing themselves from her. Retailer Gwynn’s of Mt. Pleasant took to its Instagram to make a statement regarding the business’ relationship with the red-headed reality star.
Kathryn recently came under fire for offensive messages she sent to political activist, Mika Gadsden.
Gwynn’s is a clothing retailer owned by Madison Simon, a close friend of Kathryn and her father. Kathryn showcased her work with the store on Instagram and often filmed her Southern Charm scenes there.
Madison talked about Kathryn’s duties in an article for Bravo . There she detailed Kathryn’s responsibilities, which included assisting clients with styling, helping with store purchases, and brand marketing efforts. This current Gwynn’s statement describes Kathryn’s role with the retailer as “periodic” and “contract.” That information may lead fans to question the future of their relationship.
The controversy is all based on an argument between Kathryn and Mika Gadsden, a black political activist and radio host, which began on May 10. Mika took to Twitter to call out a friend of Kathryn’s, Katie Shields, People reported. The local business owner was organizing a MAGA boat parade with some friends. Gadsden disagreed with the notion of the event and tweeted her opinions.
“In Charleston, you learn, fairly quickly, that the face of the White Supremacy resembles that of the boutique-owning, gatekeeping glitterati. This is Katie Shields, owner of Mylk Bar in Mt. Pleasant,” the tweet said.
Mika didn’t’ stop there.
“Katie is reprehensible,” she went on to say.
After the tweets came out, Kathryn sent several direct messages to Mika’s Instagram account. The DM’s started silly, “You’re an L7 Weeeeeenieeee.” But they quickly became inflamed.
“Why are you calling us white people, that is so racist,” Kathryn continued. She went so far as to include a monkey emoji in a message.
The black radio host took great offense and screenshotted the messages and took them to social media.
“The use of the emoji is offensive as black people have often been compared to monkeys in an attempt to dehumanize them or compare them to savages,” according to a Ferris State University Study as written in People .
While she never addressed Mika directly, Kathryn did apologize for her behavior. She said that she meant nothing by using the emoji. She continued and condemned her action, explaining that she simply did not give it much thought.
I want to acknowledge that using a monkey emoji in my text was offensive, and from the bottom of my heart I sincerely apologize to anyone and everyone I hurt. Although the context was not my intention, there are no “if ands or buts” that excuse me… part 1
— Kathryn C. Dennis (@KathrynDennis) May 11, 2020
Part 2: ….I did not give it thought, and it was and is wrong. I know I am not that person. I know and will do better
— Kathryn C. Dennis (@KathrynDennis) May 11, 2020
