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DJ says Rebar owner used racial slur





Rebar’s DJ A.J. Kang has alleged racist comments by venue owner Rhonda Russell, a notion her legal team denies.Courtesy / DJ A.J. Klang

Rebar’s DJ A.J. Kang has alleged racist comments by venue owner Rhonda Russell, a notion her legal team denies.Courtesy / DJ A.J. Klang

DJ A.J. Kang, a Nashville resident of 27 years, walked offstage during the middle of his set Saturday night at the Midtown Rebar location after he says owner Rhonda Russell used racist language.

Russell declined to comment Monday afternoon under advisement of her attorney Bryan Lewis.

“We categorically deny the allegations that are being made concerning Miss Russell being a racist,” Lewis said. “I have personally known Miss Russell for over 30 years and she’s not a racist. I have never heard her make a racial slur during the entire 30 years I have known her.”

According to Kang, who has served as the venue’s DJ for three years, Russell approached him on stage around 12:30 a.m. while “drunk” as Usher’s “Yeah!” was playing.

“She comes up to me and says ‘You better quit playing this Black music immediately or I’m going to make you leave,’ “ said Kang, who is biracial. “I was very confused, just shocked that she would say that.”

 

 

According to Kang, after changing the song to “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers, he confronted Russell offstage and made his feelings known.

“She said, ‘Don’t give me no lip. Don’t give me no lip. All this (racial expletive) music is ruining my bar, and if you would play better music, there would be better types of people in here,’ “ Kang said. “Meaning there’d be less Black people.

“I had no words for that,” Kang said. “It caught me so off-guard, man. One, it hurt me because I thought she was better than that. Two, I didn’t know how I could continue.”

Kang said he had never heard any racist language from Russell directly before her alleged comments Saturday night, but he said he had heard rumors from other employees.

“I’m staring at these beautiful people, this beautiful crowd, this very diverse crowd,” Kang said. “I’m thinking, ‘These people have no idea what this owner has just said and they’re spending money and supporting her. They need to know the truth.’”

Kang said he then stopped the music, publicly alerted the crowd to the incident and made his exit.

His announcement led to the club’s closure for the night. The crowd, he said, peacefully left the establishment.

Kang also alleges Russell and her boyfriend blocked his vehicle in as he attempted to leave, leading to his filming them briefly with his phone.

Russell has been an owner of Rebar since 2009. However, in recent months, she transitioned from utilizing a management company to taking on a direct manager role, according to Lewis.

Lewis characterized Kang as a “disgruntled employee,” who was not on board with a recent shift to refocus Rebar’s atmosphere on country music.

“He is lying about Miss Russell,” Lewis said. “We intend to investigate and potentially pursue legal action against him for defamation and libel.”

Kang has worked with the likes of DJ Khaled, Jermaine Dupri, Warren G and David Porter in the past.

“This is just not something I feel should be a part of Music City, the city that I love,” Kang said. “I was just trying to do the right thing. That’s all I was trying to do.”

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