Old Navy employees call out store for bringing in white staff for ‘Queer Eye’ taping
Employees of the store say they spruced up the store thinking they would be part of the taping only to find people who didn't look like them in their place
Employees at an Old Navy in Philadelphia’s Center City location say they are frustrated with what is apparently a white washing of their workplace for the taping of a popular television show.
Non-white employees at the store say they were replaced by an all-white crop of workers from suburban stores for taping of the Netflix show Queer Eye, according to Philadelphia magazine.
On location production took place last week for the series and three employees of color say Black and Brown workers were told to stay out of site from cameras during their shift.
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Last Wednesday, Monae Alvarado, who has worked at the location for more than a year described what happened on Facebook, providing background information on preparation for the taping.
Alvarado said Old Navy managers who were involved in the production told the non-white workers to go to the back. Another employee said the store received new clothing, signs and even a repainting to provide a specific and “spotless” image to the store.
“We were under the impression from our managers that we would be filmed and to remain professional,” another employee stated. “I was super-excited up until the day of and a random group of white folks came in to replace us at our own store.”
“It became clear that we weren’t going to be filmed because we hadn’t been asked to sign consent forms, and they made it a point to keep us as far away from the cameras as possible. Most of the staff and managers at our store location are Black,” a third Center City Old Navy employee of color said.
Old Navy’s corporate office issued a statement to the Philadelphia Magazine regarding the taping:
“At Old Navy, we celebrate the diversity of our teams and our customers and foster an environment of inclusion and belonging. We were proud to work with The Queer Eye show to film at our store in Philadelphia and to feature our local store manager on camera. We also worked with additional employees in the area to help ensure the store ran seamlessly for customers, as the location was open for business during filming, and we expect they may appear in background shots. These individuals are reflective of our diverse employee population. We would never select employees to participate – or not – based on race. That is completely inaccurate and against the values we stand for as a company.”
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Sources close to Netflix and Queer Eye state they did not inform Old Navy of any particular staffing requests. Cast member Tan France reseponded on Alvarado’s post, stating he would not “have allowed production to move POC to the back.”
In their own statement, Netflix acknowledges the presence of one African-American woman employee in the segment, which was responded by the store’s employees who still wondered why additional white staff would be brought in.
