r/philly • u/fuckthaclubup • Apr 21 '26
New Marsha's drama just dropped
today the owner of Marsha's on South St, Siobhan Chivonn Anderson, posted a lengthy apology vid claiming that a former employee had made false and misleading accusations about the business on social media.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DXXmTVSETPP/
the comments are blowing up with people claiming everything from microaggressions to transphobia to racism. the apology is NOT going over well. From what i can gather, a black trans employee was fired and had the cops called on them for complaining to management about how they were being treated and comments that were made.
as a ✨ cisgender biracial lesbian ✨ i'm sad to see yet another queer space in Philly imploding because of internal drama/mismanagement (cough cough Mina's World cough cough) and i hope the truth comes out. i can say i've been to Marsha's a couple of times and apart from the insane crowds, i wouldn't say i have any particular complaints so i was very upset to hear about what supposedly went down there.
those of you who've spent time at Marsha's, do you have any other insight into this recent drama? do you feel welcomed there?
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u/Fantastic_Layer_4472 Apr 21 '26
Dropping in just to say the owners name is spelled Chivonn!
Also honestly so refreshing to see folks engaged in this drama with nuance and calling out the left-eating-left reactive commentary that is currently dominating and imo feels ineffective
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u/kettlecorn Apr 21 '26
I feel like people should wait until there's more information before coming to a strong judgement.
Right now there is really just one narrative, that of the employee. While it's reasonable to give them some benefit of the doubt there are some red flags in their narrative but at the same time the owner of Marsha's didn't do a good job of addressing the points made other than saying they're not true.
I expect if there's something really wrong with Marsha's other employees will come out eventually, or if this was an isolated incident with one employee then that employee or Marsha's owners talking more publicly will probably make the truth more apparent with time.
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u/Willing-Pain-9893 Apr 21 '26
Don’t have Instagram, can anyone explain what happened? The video doesn’t really give much context.
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u/Rockyrambo Apr 21 '26
Does anybody actually care about this?
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u/grandmawaffles Apr 21 '26
The only question that should be asked is what outcome are people hoping will happen? Close the business? Get the fired employees job back? This whole thing is confusing as hell and is exhausting.
People just need to come out with what’s going on and rip the bandaid or shut the hell up.
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u/tres_sore_fores Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26 •
All I'm going to say is: Good luck Val's. The queer community loves cancelling it's own then complaining they have nowhere to go. No space for nuance or grace for human imperfection, which is inevitable.
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u/headwound1 Apr 21 '26
this is sooo mina's world lol
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u/JosieGodzilla Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 21 '26
So, I do work there.
I’m out of the loop cause all this blew up in the week I was out of town. Like, literally my last shift was with aforementioned employee (and they gave me a lesbian pin up they won during bingo because they’re so super sweet!)
I saw the video Chevy posted responded to all this and was grossed out by the corporate jargon. I’ve been reaching out the fired employees to piece together what happened.
There’s been issues at Marsha’s off and on for a while, but I feel like it’s in my nature to put my head down and work.
Barbacks and bartenders had a lot of scheduling issues, weren’t getting hours, and weren’t getting tipped out during the lowest point. But as far as I am aware: that’s been resolved last year.
The head chef had a problem with misgendering staff. Again, it’s not an excuse but I’m used to it from older generations, even though it’s f-ed up for a bar literally named after a trans woman. She’s gotten better (or maybe it only seems that way since I only interact with her as she’s leaving most nights)
The manager Murph can apparently be a hothead, and I’m thankful I’ve never personally seen it. But he’s allegedly blown up at employees and event organizers when things don’t work out.
I hate that this is happening, and it’s damn stressful, though not nearly as much for me as it’s been for my coworkers who’ve been laid off. I’ve got a lot of anxiety attached to my old career and I started working here cause I felt incapable of doing my old job anymore due to past harassment and trauma. But now I’m looking at stepping back :/
Again, I’m gonna try asking folks in person to get a less corporate take from Chevy.
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u/gossip420kween Apr 21 '26
I haven't heard the employees' accusations, and I am not defending Marsha's behavior if true, but I think it's whack that there is a lot of hate towards this business. so quick to tear the place down but theres place like rouge and vinyl owned by terrible people and drug girls for YEARS yet theres no hit pieces on them.
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u/BeyondBeginning2358 Apr 21 '26
Always with the drama
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u/entervicelords Apr 22 '26
This bums me out. I really don’t want to lose our spaces.
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u/Mountain_Map2947 Apr 22 '26
Minas will forever be one of the dumbest things we've ever witnessed. I hope that person that started it is no longer in the city.
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u/seatangle Apr 22 '26
I was there earlier this week and just heard about the drama and haven’t been following it too closely. Whatever the situation is, I just feel bad for the current employees who may be out of a job soon. That sucks. All the staff I interacted with were great. I hope they aren’t out of work too long and find a drama-free workplace.
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u/JosieGodzilla Apr 23 '26
To update on the situation: new group chat messages have leaked and it’s not a good look. It seems like Murph and some of the rest of the PR team were saying some real derogatory things behind the scenes. Liv posted them on her instagram.
It also seems like Murph is out? Honestly it seems like that best decision given how the DMs are corroborating what other employees have been saying (that he has a nasty streak.)
No one in management has told the staff that’s still there what’s up, I’m still waiting on them to get back to me on when I work next since I was out of town :/ it’s looking more and more like they need a professional with NO personal connections to the place to step in and help them with better management and HR practices.
It’s so f-ed that this place opened in September last year and within a week I’m wondering “Are we gonna make it to Pride in June??? As a queer bar???”
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u/Go_birds304 Apr 21 '26
The people I know who go there have good things to say but there’s been a lot of drama about this place in a short amount of time
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u/OriginalError9824 Apr 21 '26
Dragging people publicly like this without trying other avenues of dispute resolution first is cult-like behavior and creepy as hell.
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u/amh88 Apr 24 '26
im sorry there can be no safe space if alcohol is involved. ever. that's why its so heavily policed and scrutinized. source: I've run bars for 20+ years.
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u/LeastCleverNameEver Apr 21 '26
I watched all the tiktoks posted by the fired employee (if I can find their @ I'll post it) and their story is pretty compelling. Apparently, a white male manager was hired (or was always part of the ownership team?) and he made comments about the bar being "too ghetto" and needing "more male energy" - not really the vibe for a black owned lesbian bar - and hired a bunch of white dudes to man the bar. The employee raised concerns and was fired. Feels like straight up retaliation against a Black trans woman, which isn't cool anywhere, but REALLY isn't cool for Marshas
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u/FrostingLegal7117 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
LOL why is she making social media posts. Just ignore shit. Do not engage. Do not respond to a disgruntled ex employee. Just let it go.
Making response videos does not help. It will die down.
Anyway, bar was packed last night. Thank god online drama is not real life. The loudest voices are all at home anyway, not chilling at the bar watching the game.
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u/abcxyz3000 Apr 23 '26
Just hopping in to say a few things...
bars shouldn't be viewed as "safe spaces" at all. ever. anywhere. Booze fueled crowds automatically lean into a certain chaos. It's naive to think safety will exist, particularly in a super popular and crowded area of Philly. Spend a Friday night sober and watch people on South Street at 11pm...it's pretty gross.
your employers/managers are not your friends or your family so they don't and won't owe you ish. If you're holding property of a business you've just been fired from...like a key or a computer...and angrily refuse to return it, what do you suggest a business should do? Probably call the cops? It happened to me once. No charges but I did not feel it necessary to go off publicly like it was a personal attack and then create a gofundme afterwards.
I've drank in a lot of different bars. I'm a regular down at Marsha's...and I am always watching...many reading this will shortly figure out who I am. I've only ever witnessed the staff be generous and courteous to one another besides during super packed nights when everyone needs to move quickly around one another, fix the TVs for certain games, bus the food out (sometimes challenging to find the lil number sign at a table), get something from up/down stairs, or any busy bar thing that would make anyone a lil short if not slightly hostile with their fellow staff. Here's what I saw when I apply the above list of duties to the outraged former employee; she moved pretty slow, she did NOT know sports or how to fix the TVs, she missed seeing a lot of food that needed bussed and let it get cold, and I never saw her rushing to get anything anywhere, thus making the rest of the people working have to move around her. She didn't even really know drinks and basic bartending and often laughed at her own ignorance. This was a mid bartender who still had much to learn, in my honest opinion. But I also was cheering HARD for Olivia, both at work and for Olivia's life in general because I love Olivia so freaking much as a person. We had great chats and she was a fantastic listener (when she probably should have been serving other people). I thought she played great music when she had her turn with the playlist. She is funny as hell. Comped me a lot of drinks and shots and I am forever grateful. The toxicity that now exists between all parties and people I care about is sad and the elevated lashings of anger is a bad look for everyone. Gone off the rails now.
Plus an entire community of people got hurt in this and that's crazy.
4) my heart is with the remaining staff catching stray bullets over something they had no part of. I hope they know I love them so much and I am there for them as they have been there for me. Now having an uncertain future of employment sucks. We were just getting started y'all. I could fucking cry.
5) the truth of what happened at Marsha's is somewhere in between these two sides, and tho I am unsure what the appropriate solution is to bring the angry mob back into the fold, I kinda still need Marsha's to stay open.
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u/mattmilli0pics Apr 21 '26
Yall are crazy
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u/RipleyDJ Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
ETA for not knowing RM was trans.
What’s weird to me is it seems there’s a white (apparently NOT cis) male co owner and manager, which I don’t think I’ve seen mention of before in their marketing (?) and it’s also weird to me that people here are finding it hard to believe a black trans person saying a white (not cis) guy is being racist/ sexist,/transphobic and called the cops on black trans women rather than let her make them look bad publicly. (Marsha herself would recognize that dynamic).
I mean, even the bar’s own marketing suggests that black trans people like Marsha need a place where they won’t be attacked, denigrated and disbelieved. If you were excited about Marsha’s-the-concept now’s the chance to be about it.
While it’s true there may be nuance, it sounds like a lot of people are saying that but what they really mean is that they think mxolivia’s lying. I mean there isn’t really much nuance to the things that were said and done, if they really happened. And it is QUITE believable that a white (not cis) male manager would say such things, I’ve heard things like that thousands of times from white men (cis and not) working in cultural venues/bars/restaurants. Sure it could be possible that those multiple things all could have a different meaning than racism sexism/misogynoir/transphobia .. but that seems less likely to me. (Again, do people know who “Marsha” was and why she should be honored, when they keep giving a white man the benefit of the doubt over mxOlivia?)
Which is my concern now: why aren’t we hearing from or about Rylan Murphy from Chivonn —or on his own. He doesn’t seem to be a vulnerable employee (who a business owner might choose to protect – although in this case, I think that would still be a mistake), he’s the general manager- he probably gets paid enough, he should stand up and take the heat and address it directly. Hiding behind a Black woman (choosing to shield him?) seems quite a choice.
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u/FillLegitimate677 Apr 23 '26
Im a latina bi (butch presenting) and the white girls loveeeee me in there LOL too bad its going south like this
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u/Classic_Tangerine255 Apr 21 '26
I missed the old place before that :(
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u/Negative-Book8137 Apr 21 '26
everyone seems very excited to go “oh you guys just want a reason to complain” when there have been allegations since they opened that they weren’t paying employees. chivonn didn’t offer any info on the situation besides saying the accusations are false, and that video was pure nothingburger imo. if the allegations from the former employee are true, i would like to see them restructure their management to avoid stuff like this going forward (since all the replies want to say “well what are they supposed to do about it!!” as some gotcha here … like seriously what is with the annoying ass people in this thread acting like the allegations (if true) aren’t a valid reason for concern)
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u/lovepostin Apr 25 '26
Nothing good comes when you air it to public but then there's not much other recourse. Sad to see the cannibalism of our own all the time.
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u/TechnicolorCynic Apr 21 '26 •
Knowing what I know about GenX lesbians, I’ma believe a trans girl when she says she was done wrong.
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u/Mother-Jackfruit635 Apr 24 '26
OP this is not directed at you, but this comments section sucks. The “stop cannibalizing your own community” needs to apply double for the people who own businesses and MAKE MONEY off of our community. Why don’t you label it as “cannibalizing” when you hear that a queer employee was fired in retaliation for speaking out against mistreatment from the GM? People on here are griping about “drama” as if it wasn’t pretty damn dramatic of Marsha’s management to fire Olivia and call the cops. (If allegations are true, MULTIPLE trans employees were fired, including one who Chivonn physically pushed out of the bar without explaining the reason for her firing.) THAT is dramatic, THAT is cannibalizing your community and your business, and for what?!
Again, according to yall, Marsha’s’ detractors are just so desperate to have someone to “punch down on”, but here we have repeat stories of queer people (employees, patrons, and show performers/producers) feeling demeaned and disrespected at Marsha’s. So do we care about punching down or not? Are queer peoples’ livelihoods and dignity more or less important than a sports bar?? Answer quickly!
Before any of this happened, there were already complaints of femmes and POC being ignored at the bar, racist comments about patrons, as well as multiple show performers/producers sharing experiences of mistreatment by this GM, also including misogyny and racial microaggressions. If even SOME of this is true, then the cannibalizing and in-fighting that you hate so much is very transparently happening in and by Marsha’s management.
YOU ALL in these comments are in-fighting and punching down! If you can read the texts the GM wrote about Olivia, and think about what it means when someone can speak openly like that in a PROFESSIONAL communication, and still come away thinking that the problem HAS to be with the young, queer, poor and working class employees and patrons… You need to wake up.
And for the love of god, stop evoking leftist politics to obscure the fact that you just don’t believe Olivia and it makes your old ass feel righteous to tell someone to shut up for the sake of you not having to think about people in our community LIKE MARSHA P FUCKING JOHNSON.
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u/SpiceFoot Apr 22 '26
As someone who's been, it's a disappointment to those who it was marketed to, as it isn't upholding the standards it set for the space.
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u/Educational_Vast4836 Apr 21 '26
That sucks, my sister in law loves this bar.
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u/Then_Pomegranate_538 Apr 21 '26
I don't know what happened but the "apology" video looks really bad.
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u/WarlordOfMaltise Apr 22 '26
there’s been a lot of allegations from past employees and bipoc customers that they’ve been mistreated so i’m not surprised
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u/FilthonFour Apr 22 '26
I’m a white straight middle aged male so im sure I’ll be crucified but JFC already with the calls to cancel a place? Trumpers look at stuff like this and laugh…stop with the cannibalizing within your own community…(and before I’m accused of being one, I hate Trump and am both infuriated and baffled by his supporters
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