Former ‘Shortland Street’ Actress Teuila Blakely Sorry For Swearing At Café Staff, But Insists Her Story Was Correct
Kiwi actress Teuila Blakely has explained why she yelled at a café staffer. The former “Shortland Street” actress was witnessed swearing at a staff member at The Luscious Foodstore in Te Atatu after waiting too long for her order.
A witness said the former soap actress caused quite a scene at the café on Wednesday morning after apparently believing that she had waited too long for her coffee and juice. The witness told Stuff that she yelled at the staff to “go f*** themselves” before storming into the kitchen and unleashing her fury at café owner Jonathan Clarke. Blakely allegedly threw a huge tantrum in front of the other customers, then exited the café vowing never to come back.
She also warned her almost 3,000 Facebook followers about the café, telling them that she’s boycotting the venue because it is run by bad staff. “Luckily there’s plenty of other great cafés and new cafés coming to the Pen… Won’t let it ruin my great day ahead but I will miss hospo shouldn’t be hostile coz I’m better at that LOL Peace out.”
The post was since deleted and replaced with a tamer message, explaining that it was just a “massive misunderstanding on both sides.” However, she insists her version of events is correct, saying that as someone who has worked in the service industry like herself, she knows that “good service is an art.”
She also told Stuff that being a customer of the café for seven years, her familiarity led her to lash out angrily at the staff. The café’s owner confirmed the incident, explaining that the staff member only left the juice machine to make the actress’ coffee because it was quicker to do so. The staff member was left “pretty upset” by Blakely’s treatment.
Blakely received little support from Facebook commenters. Some followers were kind and supportive, even blaming the staff for maybe being rude to Blakely. However, many also blasted the actress for feeling so “self-important.” The typical negative response to her experience is that Blakely’s language was uncalled for and that her behaviour spoke a lot more about herself than what was done to her.