Silicon Valley CEO from UK hurls racist abuse at Asian family
Silicon Valley CEO is kicked out of a California restaurant for hurling racist abuse at an Asian family and yelling ‘Trump is going to f*** you’
- Michael Lofthouse, the British CEO and founder of tech company Solid8, shouted racist abuse at Jordan Chan and her family on Saturday
- The family were out celebrating a birthday at Bernardus Lodge and Spa’s Lucia restaurant in Carmel Valley, California, when the attack took place
- Shocking footage shows Lofthouse shouting ‘f**king Asian piece of s**t’ and ‘Trump’s going to f**k you!’
- An outraged restaurant worker steps in and orders him to ‘get out’
- The video was posted on social media Sunday and went viral after it was shared by pop star Kelly Clarkson
- Lofthouse later issued a grovelling apology, telling DailyMail.com: ‘My behavior in the video is appalling’
- Do you know Michael Lofthouse? Email martin.robinson@mailonline.co.uk
By Rachel Sharp and Josh Boswell For Dailymail.com
Published: 16:56 EDT, 7 July 2020 | Updated: 06:21 EDT, 8 July 2020
A Silicon Valley CEO was kicked out of a California restaurant on July 4 for hurling racist abuse at an Asian family and yelling ‘Trump is going to f*** you’.
Michael Lofthouse, the British CEO and founder of tech company Solid8, was caught on camera racially attacking Jordan Chan and her family when they were out celebrating a birthday at Bernardus Lodge and Spa’s Lucia restaurant in Carmel Valley on Saturday.
Shocking footage shows Lofthouse shouting racist abuse at the diners from the table opposite.
He calls the family a ‘f***ing Asian piece of s**t’ before an outraged restaurant worker steps in and tells him to ‘get out’. The video was posted by Ms Chan on social media Sunday and went viral after it was shared by pop star Kelly Clarkson.
Mr Lofthouse’s firm Solid8 is based in San Francisco, California, has a low-budget website saying it offers industry-leading cloud storage and online security for companies. It has between two and ten employees, according to LinkedIn.
A Silicon Valley CEO was kicked out of a California restaurant on July 4 for hurling racist abuse at an Asian family and yelling ‘Trump is going to f*** you’. He is pictured flipping the bird at the family (above)
Michael Lofthouse was caught on camera racially attacking Jordan Chan and her family when they were out celebrating a birthday at Bernardus Lodge and Spa’s Lucia restaurant in Carmel Valley on Saturday
Ms Chan had been at the restaurant with her family to celebrate her aunt Mari Orosa’s birthday. Mari was accompanied at the restaurant by her husband, Raymond, a sales rep for a Mercedes car dealership in California.
The footage begins after Lofthouse has already apparently started on his unprovoked, racist tirade, with the person filming him telling him to ‘say that again’.
‘Oh, now you’re shy,’ the person behind the camera is heard saying.
‘Say it one more time.’
The man responds by flipping them the bird and saying ‘that’s what I’m saying now’.
‘Trump’s going to f*** you!’ he then yells, as he gets up to leave the restaurant.
‘You f***ers need to leave.’
A waitress is then heard telling him ‘to leave now’.
‘Get out of here,’ she shouts. ‘You are not allowed here. You do not talk to our guests like that.’
Jenny Chan (back left) posted the footage on Instagram. The family were celebrating the birthday of Jenny’s aunt Mari Orosa (back right with Mari’s husband Raymond front right)
Lofthouse calls the family a ‘f***ing Asian piece of s**t’ before an outraged restaurant worker steps in and tells him to ‘get out’
Lofthouse continues with his vile attack on the family.
‘You f***ing Asian piece of s**t,’ he shouts at the group, before turning to the waitress and saying: ‘Who are these f***ers?’
‘They are valued guests,’ the waitress responds.
Michael Lofthouse, the British CEO and founder of tech company Solid8, was identified as the man racially attacking the family
Lofthouse replies: ‘Are they? They are valued guests in America?’
The waitress continues to tell him to ‘get out’ and says: ‘You are not allowed here ever again.’
Chan wrote on Instagram that the ‘white supremacist’ businessman had begun harassing her family soon after they sang happy birthday to her aunt.
Aside from the racist comments caught on camera, she said he also told them to ‘go back to whatever fucking Asian country you’re from’ and that ‘you don’t belong here’.
She added on the post that he ‘had a LOT more to say after I stopped recording’.
Lofthouse later issued a grovelling apology, telling DailyMail.com: ‘My behavior in the video is appalling. This was clearly a moment where I lost control and made incredibly hurtful and divisive comments.
‘I would like to deeply apologize to the Chan family. I can only imagine the stress and pain they feel. I was taught to respect people of all races, and I will take the time to reflect on my actions and work to better understand the inequality that so many of those around me face every day.’
Jordan Chan (left) posted her thanks to those who have supported the family since the incident. She was celebrating her aunt Mari Orosa’s birthday (right with husband Raymond)
The Bernardus Lodge (pictured) said they were sorry about the experience their guests had at the restaurant and they were ‘proud’ of how their staff handled it
The family had been celebrating a birthday at the restaurant when the horrific abuse occurred
The Bernardus Lodge said they were sorry about the experience their guests endured at the restaurant but they were ‘proud’ of how their staff handled it.
‘This is an extremely unfortunate situation, however, we are proud of our staff at Lucia in keeping with Bernardus Lodge’s core values,’ said Sean Damery, the lodge’s vice president and general manager, in a statement to KION.
‘This incident was handled swiftly and the diner was escorted off property without further escalation.
‘We provide guests with a safe environment for lodging and dining, and extend our sincere apologies to the guests enjoying a birthday celebration on a holiday weekend.’
Lofthouse appears to have disabled his LinkedIn and Twitter accounts following the incident.
