A Placer County, California, official said that San Francisco salon owner Erica Kious can open her new salon in the area after Kious closed her business following an incident with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“As an elected official, I am disheartened to hear about your recent experience in San Francisco with the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, at your salon,” Placer County Board Supervisor Bonnie Gore wrote to Kious. “While you may already know your next destination, I would like to invite you to consider setting up your next salon here.
“Our arms are open to hard-working small business owners.”
Video was released of Pelosi getting her hair styled in Kious’s salon without a mask last month despite a local ordinance prohibiting indoor salon visits due to COVID-19.
Kious said a stylist who rents a chair at her salon accepted the appointment, which was out of her control.
“It was a slap in the face that she went in, you know, that she feels that she can just go and get her stuff done while no one else can go in, and I can’t work,” Kious said. “We’re supposed to look up to this woman, right?”
Kious said that she decided to share the footage in solidarity with other business owners who have struggled during the pandemic. After news of the footage began to circulate, Pelosi accused the salon of staging a “setup” and demanded an apology.
The owner told Fox News’s Tucker Carlson that the controversy has left her in fear of returning to San Francisco.
“I started to just get a ton of phone calls, text messages, emails, all my Yelp reviews … saying that they hope I go under and that I fail,” Kious said. “So, just a lot of negativity towards my business.”
“I’m actually afraid to go back … It’s a little scary and sad,” she continued. “I do have a lot of positive calls and text messages from clients. But other than that, nothing but negativity.”
A GoFundeMe for Kious raised over $300,000 to help her pay off debt and relocate her salon.
“I am very humbled and grateful to have received such an outpouring of kindness, empathy, and generosity from people I don’t even know and from all walks of life and all sides of the political spectrum,” Kious said in a letter thanking donors. “It’s a powerful reminder that the common things that bind us all together as Americans are far more meaningful and lasting than political and ideological differences that get so much attention and focus.”
