SAN FRANCISCO (CN) — The CEO of a San Francisco bar claims in a complaint filed in San Francisco Superior Court that a 2023 viral video depicting a man spraying a homeless person with a hose on the sidewalk in front of his business caused him emotional distress and loss of profits to the tune of $2.5 million.
The case stems from a 2023 video capturing a man spraying a homeless individual with a hose on the sidewalk outside Barbarossa Lounge in Chinatown. Within days, the video garnered more than 16 million views on social media, with many incorrectly assuming the man to be someone affiliated with the lounge or an employee. Instead, the man in the video, Shannon Collier Gwin, was not associated with the business, but does own the property and leases it to Barbarossa Lounge.
The plaintiff, Arash Ghanadan, the operator of the lounge, accuses Gwin of triggering a wave of public backlash against himself and his business, including death threats, harassment and negative Yelp and Google reviews, blaming the lounge for the conduct in the video…