Kid Rock’s Detroit eatery to shut down after his anti-Oprah rant
AKid Rock-owned restaurant in Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena will close once its licensing agreement expires this spring, the singer and the arena operator announced separately on Wednesday.
Kid Rock’s Made in Detroit opened in 2017 in Little Caesars Arena. The severing of ties between the suburban Detroit-born musician and Ilitch Holdings came days after a video surfaced showing Kid Rock ranting against Oprah Winfrey, though neither party tied the parting to the video or the backlash that followed. The split also points to a widening estrangement between Kid Rock and the city he calls home.
“I appreciate all who have patronised our place and still have much love for the city of Detroit and the people/ organisations that I have helped there for years, black, white, whatever, but learned long ago, go where you’re celebrated, not tolerated,” he wrote on Facebook.
Chris Granger, group president of sports and entertainment for Ilitch Holdings, said in a statement that Kid Rock “voluntarily decided” not to renew the deal for the restaurant that expires in April. He said the Ilitch organisation has been in contact with the musician. The statement said its “venues are open, inviting, inclusive and respectful to all”.
A spokesman for Kid Rock didn’t immediately reply to a message seeking comment.
Born Robert Ritchie, Kid Rock grew up in Macomb County, north of Detroit.
Apparent cellphone video obtained by TMZ shows Ritchie onstage last month at his steakhouse in Nashville, Tennessee, using graphic language to convey his dislike of Winfrey. Some viewed his rant as racist, including the Rev. Charles Williams II, who is the president of the National Action Network’s Michigan chapter.