Over the weekend, a video of Angela Marsden, the owner of the Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill of Los Angeles, protesting the city shutting down outdoor dining with no scientific basis went viral. The video showed Marsden’s emotional plea for help as she exposed how a similar set of tents and tables were set up in the same parking lot to cater a film production approved by the city.
Only part of Marsden’s comments made it onto NBC’s Sunday Today. But reporter Meagan Fitzgerald deceptively edited out Marsden pointing to the hypocrisy with the tents and tables. Worse yet, NBC covered up the fact that the catering was for NBC’s comedy show, Good Girls.
Bar owner in Los Angeles CA is livid to see that mayor Garcetti has approved an outdoor dining area for a movie company directly across from her outdoor dining area (which was shut down) pic.twitter.com/jkUP2CWg35
— Jake Coco 💙🇺🇸🎶🐻 (@jakecoco) December 4, 2020
During her report on the coronavirus pandemic, Fitzgerald played this highly edited soundbite from Marsden’s viral video:
MEAGAN FITZGERALD: And back in California, many businesses scared they won't survive.
ANGELA MARSDEN: Everything I own is being taken away from me. [Transition] And people wonder why I'm protesting and why I have had enough. [Transition] My staff cannot survive.
Fitzgerald even chided people like Marsden as not important, declaring: “Businesses and livelihoods hit hard. But the toughest toll of all, is losing loved ones.” And at no point did she disclose that the catering was for the NBC comedy show.
But there was more to the video that NBC was trying to hide. “Look at this. Tell me that this is dangerous, but right next to me -- is a slap in my face -- that's safe,” Marsden said as she toured her shutdown tents featuring socially distanced picnic tables. Just a few dozen feet away, viewers could witness NBC’s catering tents.
She then added: “Mayor Garcetti and [Governor] Gavin Newsom is responsible for every single person that doesn’t have unemployment, that does not have a job, and all the businesses that are going under!”
More of Marsden’s comments made it onto ABC’s Good Morning America on Sunday. “Los Angeles restaurant owner Angela Marsden sharing her outrage on Instagram saying she's not allowed to serve customers outside, but a movie set is allowed the same setup in the same lot,” reported correspondent Trevor Ault.
According to a New York Times report, NBC had gotten a special permit to flout the COVID restrictions destroying small businesses:
The catering site was for a crew filming “Good Girls,” a comedy television show that airs on NBC, according to Philip Sokoloski, a spokesman for FilmLA, which helps Los Angeles manage film permits. Mr. Sokoloski said the catering site and the film location nearby were both authorized under a permit issued by the city.
Must be nice to be so above the plebs that you can get a major U.S. city to grant you special permission to allow you to exist while others go under.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC’s Sunday Today
December 6, 2020
8:04:33 a.m. Eastern(…)
MEAGAN FITZGERALD: And back in California, many businesses scared they won't survive.
ANGELA MARSDEN: Everything I own is being taken away from me. [Transition] And people wonder why I'm protesting and why I have had enough. [Transition] My staff cannot survive.
FITZGERALD: Businesses and livelihoods hit hard. But the toughest toll of all, is losing loved ones.
(…)
8:05:03 a.m. Eastern
FITZGERALD: And just to show you how conflicted the state is, some local officials here refusing to enforce the state’s stay-at-home order with some county sheriffs saying it's a matter of personal responsibility and not a matter for law enforcement.
ABC’s Good Morning America
December 6, 2020
8:03:46 a.m. Eastern(…)
TREVOR AULT: But some of these restrictions are drawing fierce criticism. Los Angeles restaurant owner Angela Marsden sharing her outrage on Instagram saying she's not allowed to serve customers outside, but a movie set is allowed the same setup in the same lot.
ANGELA MARSDEN: I'm losing everything. Everything I own is being taken away from me. [Transition] Look at this. Tell me that this is dangerous, but right next to me -- is a slap in my face -- that's safe.
AULT: Many people are now telling her to open up in spite of the order to close, as in nearby Riverside County, the sheriff is outright refusing to enforce these new shutdowns.
CHAD BIANCO (Sheriff): The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department will not be blackmailed, bullied, or used as muscle against Riverside County residents in the enforcement of the government's orders.
AULT: And in New York, the Staten Island bar owner arrested for opening illegally, opened right back up again on Friday to a packed and unmasked crowd.
(…)
