Rapper whose song sparked Duke coffee shop firing tweets response

Last week, a Duke University official walked into a campus coffee shop and was bothered by the music he heard coming from the speakers. This week, the two baristas who were working that day are no longer employed with the shop.

Larry Moneta, vice president for student affairs at Duke, said in a statement released Tuesday that he went into the Joe Van Gogh on Friday to purchase some items.

"I was shocked to hear lyrics playing quite loudly. I found (them) quite inappropriate for a working environment that serves children among others," he said in the statement.

He said he was bothered by the lyrics "I f***** her up real good.”

"I expressed my objections to the staff with whom I’ve always had a cordial relationship," the statement said.

Britni Brown, who was working at the time, said the song "Get Paid" by Young Dolph was on and that it was part of an automatically generated Spotify playlist. She said she apologized to Moneta and immediately turned the song off.

"I paused it and saw which song it was and was like, 'ugh,'" Brown said.

The rapper responded on Twitter, saying Moneta didn't care about anybody but himself.

Kevin Simmons was also working that day. He said he was not involved in the conversation with Moneta.

"When I saw the customer was being verbally aggressive, I could tell by the positioning and body language something was happening. I did not involve myself in it at all whatsoever," he said.

Brown said she offered to give Moneta his order for free. Moneta agreed to pay, and both Brown and Simmons thought that was the end of it.

Moneta said he then contacted the director of Duke dining to express his concerns, and that was the end of his involvement.

Brown said she and Simmons were let go from their jobs on Monday.

"I have definitely been, like, upset about it and honestly crying because I lost my job over something crazy," she said.

Both employees said they think it was an overreaction.

Students at Duke said they feel like Moneta flipped on his position of free expression.

"The artist who wrote, recorded and performed the music is absolutely entitled to do so, however offensive I might find the lyrics. The employees who chose to play the song in a business establishment on the Duke campus made a poor decision, which was conveyed to the JVG management," Moneta said.

Moneta went on to say that how the management at Joe Van Gogh, which is a contractor to Duke, responded to the employees' behavior was solely their decision.

Robbie Roberts, the shop's owner, issued a statement Wednesday apologizing to the people involved.

"We attempted to understand Duke’s position in this case, but we should have taken a different approach in making personnel decisions. As the owner of the business, I take full responsibility for Joe Van Gogh’s actions. I apologize to all of the people directly involved and those who have been touched or offended, of which there are many. We are taking steps to remedy this matter, but all company personnel issues are private and will remain private,” Roberts said in part.

Duke also issued a statement on Wednesday afternoon.

"Last week, a Duke official raised concerns about the fact that a song with lyrics containing offensive and explicit language was being played in the Joe Van Gogh coffee shop on campus. Those concerns were brought to the attention of Joe Van Gogh’s management, which took actions with regard to the employees for which Robbie Roberts, the owner, has now apologized," the statement said.

Duke went on to say, "We appreciate Mr. Roberts’ statement and his commitment to remedy the matter with the individuals involved and regret the pain this incident caused to those who look to Duke to uphold the highest values of fairness and equity to all members of our community."