California salon and barbershop owners have been in a months-long battle with Governor Gavin Newsom over the back-and-forth closure of indoor hair services, due to Covid-19. The frustrations over the coronavirus restriction impacting the hair industry has sparked various protests from local salon professionals and now, even celebrities seem to be joining the fight.
Actress Jaime King took to Instagram on Tuesday to share a candid post pleading with Gov. Newsom to drop charges against her hairstylist, Ted Gibson for reopening his salon. Official guidelines currently call for all California salons to remain closed, unless they choose to take their services outside.
King also shared a slideshow of photos showing her prepping for and later receiving a haircut at Gibson’s salon, STARRING, which he owns with partner Jason Backe.
“Yesterday, I stood in solidarity with my dear friend and renowned hair stylist @TedGibson, his husband and business partner@JasonBack, Civil Rights Attorney and Trial Lawyer @MarkGeragos, and The Professional Beauty Federation of California @ProBeautyFederation to #OpenSalonsNow!” she wrote. “Despite the discrimination he’s experienced throughout his life, Ted has always worked to lead by example – the @STARRING Salon (co-founded with Jason Backe is a reflection of his commitment to supporting local communities and being a part of keeping our economy up and running.”
She adds, “By opening up the salon yesterday, Ted and Jason stood in solidarity with many of the 53,000 State Board of Barbering & Cosmetology licensed establishments who have implemented COVID-compliant safety protocols and are choosing to make customer & employee safety a priority.”
“Ted, I am so proud of you for always standing up for yourself and pushing things forward for you entire industry! #SaveOurSalons,” she wrote. “We are asking @gavinnewsom and the @MayorofLA to drop these charges and #OpenSalonsNow!”
King was Gibson’s first client when his Los Angeles salon held its public reopening on Monday, August 17th, according to a post the stylist shared on Instagram. The date was symbolic, as it was five months to the day that salons in California were originally closed by Gov. Newsom.
Despite his salon following all of the CDC health and safety guidelines that were initially required in July, Gibson was still issued an operating citation from the police at his reopening for performing hair services indoors.
The celebrity hairstylist posted a video on Instagram of his run-in with the police, sharing that he is willing to do whatever it takes to get salons open again, even if it means getting a citation.
Gibson’s salon is socially distanced with chairs spaced more than eight feet apart and within their own private station. His salon is also appointment-only with no front desk or assistants and is completely cashless.
At the moment, King is the first celebrity to speak up in solidarity of California salon professionals. With still no sign as to when the state of California will be reopening indoor hair services, it wouldn’t surprise us to see more public figures joining King in speaking out.
Do you think California salon and barbershop owners should be allowed to reopen indoors? Let us know in the comments below.
