Restaurant deluged with threats after Naomi Wolf kicked out for ignoring vaccine policy

An Oregon restaurant has been deluged with angry messages, fake reservations and even death threats, after an influential online vaccine opponent was thrown out for failing to comply with the business’s vaccine requirement.

On 30 June, Naomi Wolf, once known for her feminist writings and now an opponent of Covid vaccines, shared a video on Gettr of the moments just after she was, as she put it, “assertively ushered” out of Salem, Oregon’s Epilogue Kitchen and Cocktails, a New American restaurant.

In the clip, Ms Wolf acknowledges she saw the sign outside the restaurant mentioning its vaccine requirement, but compares herself to a historical freedom fighter and says she is a victim of discrimination.

“A lot of people in this nation’s history pushed boundaries like that and it turned out to be the right thing to do,” she tells an employee. “People do have equal rights in this country.”

“We value our customers safety, so when we set a requirement, we ask everyone to follow it,” the employee tells Ms Wolf, adding, “I’m sorry that you’re centering yourself. There’s a lot people in this city that told us so many times that they’re so grateful there’s a place that exists like this.”

In the video, Ms Wolf also claims Covid vaccines don’t stop transmission of the coronavirus.

This is false, according to health experts.

“This is false information,” Akiko Iwasaki, a professor of immunobiology and molecular, cellular and developmental biology at Yale University, told USA Today. “Vaccines provide significant protection from ‘getting it’ – infection – and ‘spreading it’ – transmission.”

The Independent has reached out to Ms Wolf for comment.

Jonathan Jones, co-owner of the restaurant, one of the only in the city with a vaccine requirement, told Newsweek the exchange has lend to a torrent of hate directed at Epilogue. The restaurant has dealt with surly customers in the past and criticisms of the vaccine mandate, but not at his level, he said.

“I think the difference here is the intensity and the glee that they’re getting in the harassment and then just the sheer volume,” he said. “Her national following has made this a lot more intense.”

Epilogue has received roughly 100 harassing phone calls, 60 fake reservations and 150 false one-star reviews on Google before they were removed, according to the owner.

They’ve also gotten fake reservations under “Donald Trump” and “Joe Brandon”.

“We had no idea,” Mr Jones added. “We just assumed she was just a random person.”

This is not Ms Wolf’s first controversy over Covid. She was kicked off Twitter last year for posts that violated the social network’s terms of service with respect to accurate Covid information.