T.I. Sounds Off On Starbucks Boycott: 'There Needs To Be Real Action Taken'

Beginning this past weekend, Starbucks has faced much backlash after two black men were handcuffed and removed from a Philly store after an employee accused them of trespassing.

According to multiple witnesses -- and a video of the incident that went viral -- the men were waiting for a friend to meet them. When the guy showed up, he witnessed his two friends being cuffed. “What did they get called for?” asked the man, Andrew Yaffe, who is white, speaking about the police. “Because there are two black guys sitting here meeting me?”

Moments later, one of the black men was escorted out of the store by cops and the other one soon followed. Since then, witnesses said that Starbucks' management never asked the men to leave before all of this escalated. People who were there also said that others -- themselves included -- were sitting down, just like the guys and hadn't brought anything from the shop, but the two black men were the only ones who were forcefully and unjustly removed.

Starbucks' C.E.O has since issued an apology. “Starbucks stands firmly against discrimination or racial profiling,” he said. “Regretfully, our practices and training led to a bad outcome — the basis for the call to the Philadelphia Police Department was wrong. Our store manager never intended for these men to be arrested and this should never have escalated as it did.” The company's Twitter account also posted a letter expressing how sorry it was for the event.

However, T.I. says that that's not enough. Many people are calling for a Starbucks boycott and the rapper is standing behind it. Check out Tip speak to TMZ about demanding respect from the company below. 

Photo: Getty Images


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