Location: Minneapolis read more Minneapolis gossip
Celebrity: Prince (The Artist) & Chaka Kahn
Restaurant: Palomino


Prince came into our restaurant with his bodyguard and Chaka Kahn. We were about to close for the night when the bodyguard asked us if we would mind keeping the bar open for them to grab a bite to eat. We were accommodating and were a bit star-struck (by Chaka). The night turned out to be terrible! Our wait staff was not allowed to talk to Prince nor hand him his food. The bodyguard took the food, inspected it and then handed it to him. Chaka was all smiles and gracious (and you could tell a bit put off by Prince's behavior). They stayed until 3 and when they finally left, we realized that they shorted us $1.81 on the tab


http://bitterwaitress.com...ml?id=1661

KatSkrizzle said:

When did this happen? I didn't see a date on the link so I hope it's from a long time ago. Being a waiter or waitress is very hard work for very low pay. It makes me sad to think Prince or any wealthy celebrity would treat anyone this way.

How does his religion feel about stiffing service people? I hear so much about how right his JW religion is and then read something like this. Did it happen before he joined up with the JW's or is this a current practice?
I try not to read too much into this stuff but there's been a feeling surrounding the JW religion that has left me feeling this way before. Like it's preordained that those who have little or nothing are destined to live that way without help from JW's. Like they feel above others. Anyone else feeling this?
[Edited 1/9/06 6:40am]

As an individual that has waited all the way through college, I know that the cheapest tippers are the "Sunday Church Folk". The funny thing is, the most good doing folk (I guess for lack of better descrip), are the worst tippers.

As far as JW's, doesn't the religion say that there is only a handfull or a couple thousand that will actually go to heaven?


That's funny that you say that some people think that we stay in our socioeconomic status because it's pre-ordained. Many of these artists are not too far from their modest beginnings themselves....

You still did'nt answer the question in regards to when this "Stiffing" happened... When did it happen?

Excellent. Prince is my type of guy.

The cheap bastid.

That story is from www.bitterwaitress.com, a hilarious (and highly entertaining) website.

MSERMA said:

Where is the connection of Prince being an asshole to that waitress and him being a JW???

Ever since he joined that community, people always put his behaviour in connection/comparison to his beliefs. He has been an asshole before. Has anyone thought "this man needs a strong and strict religious conviction to get him a nice behaviour" before he joined JWs?

Sorry, but sometimes I wish the man leaves the JWs just to give us a chance
that this whole bull....ting about his religion may stop.

Btw, as Chaka was with him, 1998 could be a possible time for this (pre-JW).
[Edited 1/9/06 8:41am]

wow. not cool.

If this story is true, then this is really sad . It is better to give than to recieve. U would think that if Prince is truly trying to be right with God that he would know that your faith in God is shown through your actions towards others .

Although I posted the story, in his defense, a lot of times the artist's people (ie: management, agent, publicist) handles settling up the tab. So maybe his people were just asses. And yes that is a very entertianing website. You learn about who is cool and who is a real piece of work in the ent. industry

That turns me off Prince. TIP!

Of course, I remember reading a story from a few years ago where Prince tipped a waitress $100 for bringing him a soda. Who knows, maybe he just got really crappy service?

I'm a big tipper myself but you know I don't trust these stories much. For sure, there are bad tippers but there just as many lousy waiters/bartenders, so I'd take the stories with a grain of salt.

If you look at this story, they "realized" they were "stiffed" $1.81. Does that mean they made a mistake calculating their own bill? Or that Prince's poarty left paying $1.81 less than indicated on the bill? Prince's party paid cash and not with a card (which would have made it difficult to underpay)? You can be sure Prince wasn't trying to save $1.81. As for the tipping, it was probably a mistake from his entourage. Or maybe there was a fly in the soup?

Nobody knows.

I was at a small club in very close vicinity to Prince one night and the waitress served him and at no time did I see any money exchanged and when he was ready to bounce he did, no tip left - nothing paid. Celebs get away with that kind of stuff. However, Prince was very gracious and spoke to people and was not this weird, introverted guy who didn't want to make contact with others (as mentioned above). Although many did not approach him, it had nothing to do with him being unapproachable.

But what is being said here (true or untrue) is a different situation. Here they were the only ones in the joint AND eating. Stiffin' on a tip is a big faux-pas! Hope it isn't true ...

sidebar: my father's a great tipper. I love seeing people faces when they see what he leaves them.
[Edited 1/9/06 14:50pm]

god, whenever I read such stories, about the bodyguard stuff, and, moreover, about the surgical observations (how does THE STAR behave - was he as NICE as HE HAS TO BE - every moment in his life?), i'm truly glad being johnny nobody.

It's not news that Prince is a prick.

TheCatWoman said:

Probably about 8 or 9 years ago. Who the hell still calls him "Prince (the Artist)"?

TheCatWoman said:

It had to have been in the late 90s,when Chaka was touring and working closely with Prince.

Dude it was his hometown where he ate, of all places.

Like I said tho, it could have been his staff that messed up.

The more I read, and observe I've come to the conclusion. Prince probably is a jerk. It's best he does have staff take care of him. If it's shyness that comes off like a prick, it's best he has staff like that

As someone who has seen him tip an asshole waiter $100 for 4 glasses of gin I can say "Prince Does Tip"... His cronies however... (one doesn't need brains to become a bodyguard so math or simple counting isn't exactly a priority for them...)
But anyway, most waiters just bitch about celebs not tipping because the media pays for that kind of info/"news", and since they're too stupid to get a decent paying job they obviously need it...
Tipping is something that should only be done when deserved and if some fucking waiter doesn't like that then he/she should just fuck off and get a real paying job, they shouldn't blame someone else for their own stupidity...

Neversin.

Neversin said:

Dude, you must have never been in the service industry. Get a real job? I did that all the way through college. There are many people that do that job because it pays more than the bullshit salary that most first time careers offer. That's sad. I worked with a woman that finished nursing school but made more in the restaurant biz than nursing. That's a real shame. It sucks, but it's a reality.

In fact, I interviewed the president of our city's chamber of commerce and asked him what is REALLY happening to the economy and are the figures of employment really going up? His response was that yes, jobs are popping up, but they are from the high sector; jobs that were erradicated in upper management are returning. That means high end management that requires graduate degrees. (basically when the companies jumped the gun and fired everyone two years ago, they realised that maybe they need some of those people back) On the other end, the rest of the reasonable jobs are experiencing underemployment. No one but the upper management are getting paid their worth. Just goes to show you that the socioeconomic gap is widening.

So having to go back to wait tables shouldn't be looked at as something that is not a real job. Don't judge a person's job as a signifier of their capabilities or even intellect. I find that tipping is a sign of good breeding/culture anyway. It's been my experience that the trashiest/ghettoest people can't tip. Further signifying that your ass had no home training. I;ve been on dates with men that tip like crap. I never went out with those guys again. That is so TACKY!

KatSkrizzle said:

Yep. Before I danced I waited tables and it is one of the most stressful, demanding, but also rewarding jobs you can come by. People don't wait tables because they are stupid. In France waiting tables is considered a respectable job. I do know lots of people who have degrees and choose to bartend or wait tables because it pays more and is more enjoyable! It has nothing to do with not being able to do anything eles.

And I agree tipping is a sign of a good class. I always tip great, unless I had horrible service in which case I will still tip 15 percent, because I know first hand what that job can be like.

Eye've only "stiffed" a waiter once because of his extremely horendous service. Eye waited with my husband n child 4 30 minutes before we were even greeted at our table. ( no it wasn't at all busy ) Ppl commin in after us were seated n serviced immediately. They even ate n left before we got our food. We were one of the 2 minority customers in the establishment that night. The other ppl in our situation...stood up shouted at the manager n left. We stayed only due 2 the fact that ...

1. my child was starving
2. it was too late 2 go anywhere else.
3. our food was in sight on route 2 our table after 1hr. and 45 minutes of waiting.
4. eye was pregnant and wasn't leavin without food in my stomach!!!!!
Not 2 mention my husband didn't want me going hormonal on them.

Even when it got there it was cold and not all that we had ordered. Some stuff was missing. We ate, had 2 hail the waiter down 4 our tab ( that finally came after another 20 minute waitin period) paid n bailed.


On the other hand eye too used 2 b in the waitressing field. There r good days n bad days. U tend 2 look towards the good. Eye had co-workers who would only cater 2 the "rich" so 2 speak. Eye didn't think that was right. Eye found that the bigger tippers were the happy customers who enjoyed thier experience n the not so rich ppl. Jus my experience and opinion.

Eye think that it was his PR who probably paid 4 him. Possibly a miss calculation. Eye've seen it done b4. Then again possibly Prince was feelin like prick that night ....or still yet...the waitress could jus b bullshittin.

Interesting read though.

I wouldn't take any such story about any celeberty seriously.

I am sure if I wanted to drag prince through the mud a little I could go there and post on that website too. Mostlikely one of his freakish obsessed fans wrote it.

end of story.