Chicago-area Bar Owner: Two-way Mirror Will be Removed From Women’s Restroom
BERWYN, Ill., June 3 (UPI) — The owner of a Chicago-area bar who defended a two-way mirror discovered in the women’s bathroom now says he will have the mirror removed.
Ronnie Lottz, owner of Cigars and Stripes BBQ in Berwyn, posted a video to YouTubethis week explaining he has come to realize how the two-way mirror made famous by a viral video from comedian Tamale Sepp in April makes women uncomfortable.
“I understand where it makes women feel uncomfortable,” Lottz said in the video. He said it was initially difficult for him to understand women’s concerns because he did not have their “mindset” when viewing the mirror.
“I had eight nieces and three sisters. I understand where it makes people uncomfortable,” he said.
Lottz said the mirror, installed in 2001 for use in Halloween pranks, would be removed, a reversal from late April, when he said he would “burn this [expletive] place to the ground before I get rid of that mirror.”
The video posted Monday took a softer tone than his April statements, but he still offered some criticism for Sepp, who posted pictures and video of the mirror online when she discovered it while performing at the bar.
“I’m going to have to take down the mirror,” he said in the video. “But I’m not going to take down the mirror because of the actions of one person. I’m not going to do it. It was a misguided video.”
He said the matter could have been resolved more quickly if Sepp had “come to me directly, or even went to the police.”
He said the comedian, who performs under the name Tamale Rocks, shot the video before going on stage and did not raise any concerns with him or his staff.
“If I was a woman and I felt very violated, when I got on that stage, I would have screamed it at a top of my lungs: ‘There’s a two-way mirror in there,'” Lottz said.
Lottz did not say exactly when the mirror would be removed.
