Closed Restaurant Owner Decries ‘Hypocrisy’ of LA COVID-19 Orders Allowing Film Shoots

LA eateries are restricted to take-out and delivery due to a surge in case, while outdoor craft services are available on location filming

Pineapple Hill Saloon & Grill
Flare Photo / Pineapple Hill Saloon and Grill / YouTube

A Sherman Oaks restaurant and bar owner has decried the “hypocrisy” of Los Angeles County’s COVID-19 order that prohibits outdoor dining but allows film shoots to continue operating amid a surge in cases.

In a video that circulated widely on social media Friday, Angela Marsden, the owner of Pineapple Hill Saloon & Bar, said she was “losing everything” after being forced to shut down outdoor dining and could not understand why the county would allow film productions to continue mere feet away from her restaurant.

“Everything I own is being taken away from me, and they set up a movie company right next to my outdoor patio,” Marsden said. “And people wonder why I’m protesting and why I have had enough. They have not given us money and they have shut us down. We cannot survive, my staff cannot survive. Look at this.”

“Tell me that this is dangerous but right next to me, as a slap in my face, that’s safe. This is safe?” she continued, pointing at the production tents and visibly getting emotional.

Since the video picked up steam on Saturday, Marsden — who has organized protests against the county’s restaurant order — has set up a GoFundMe for her restaurant and has received over $74,000 in donations. Marsden also released another video to decry what she saw as the “hypocrisy” of allowing retail businesses to remain open at limited capacity, but not restaurants.

Last Wednesday, L.A. County officials shut down outdoor dining despite pushback from restaurant owners and diners. Beginning on Sunday just before midnight, Orange, Imperial, Inyo, Mono, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties will join L.A. in limiting restaurants to take-out and delivery under state guidelines determined by ICU capacities.

In L.A. County, music, film and TV productions may resume with limitations, including outdoor craft services, periodic COVID-19 testing and other sanitization and face-covering requirements.

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