Hollywood star bar restaurateur and girlfriend: ‘They were sloppy’

Protagonist of films such as “Gladiator” (2000), “The Indomitables” (2007), “Robin Hood” (2010), “Noah” (2014) and “Uncontrollable Fury” (2020), Russell Crowe was embarrassed at the door of a Japanese restaurant in Melbourne, Australia. He and his girlfriend Britney Theriot were prevented from entering the establishment by the owner. Reason? The two were dressed in sports clothes, considered inappropriate in the place.

Russell and the actress had just finished playing tennis at a nearby club when they decided to enter the restaurant. Even with some regulars warning about the fame of the man all in black, Kristian Klein, owner of the establishment, prevented the couple from entering, who were seen watching several matches of the international tournament Australia Open, last month.

In an interview with the Australian newspaper The Herald Sun, he explained that his venture requires a “smart casual dress code” from its clients, incompatible with Crowe and Theriot’s “sloppy gym clothes look”. “We treat everyone equally. It doesn’t matter who you are or if you are Russell Crowe. We have a dress code that we apply at all levels to whoever it is, it stays the same. I don’t think it’s unreasonable.”

The actor’s manager, Grant Vandenberg, even protested when he heard about the ban. “Russell was wearing a brand new Ralph Lauren polo shirt after playing a tennis match and ended up getting rejected. How so?”, he questioned.

But Klein didn’t send a message: “We’re not trying to teach people how to dress. But I understand that if I’m in flip flops and sweatpants, I’m not going to try to go to a nice restaurant, because I wouldn’t be dressed appropriately. They were sloppy. and period,” he noted.

So far, the actor couple has not publicly commented on the episode. Russell Crowe and Britney Theriot met behind the scenes of the feature “Line of Action” (2013) and have been in a relationship since 2020.