Paradis Books & Bread, a book café located in North Miami, has closed down following a controversial decision to ask Fox News political analyst Gianno Caldwell to leave the establishment due to his conservative political beliefs.
Gianno Caldwell recounted the event during an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, expressing his disbelief and disappointment over being ostracized for his political stance. Caldwell explained, “I never thought I would make international news for being a Florida man kicked out of a restaurant because of my conservative values.” He detailed how the conversation turned uncomfortable when the café’s owner directly asked him to leave, stating that their political views did not align.
The incident quickly escalated as Caldwell took to social media to share his experience, which garnered significant attention, including 2.5 million views on Twitter. Caldwell described feeling “shell shocked” by the encounter.
Caldwell further elaborated on the implications of his experience, suggesting it serves as a “microcosm of what we’re seeing across the country.” He criticized the prevailing attitude of intolerance towards differing political views, particularly noting the challenges faced by conservatives, and more specifically, African-American conservatives.
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Paradis Books & Bread posted a lengthy statement of its closing, largely blaming Fox News for their actions.
The proprietor team behind the widely celebrated NoMi establishment, which commenced operations in 2021, announced in a release that they are ceasing operations, attributing the decision to “a whole tangled knot” of factors.
To our haters, we suppose congratulations are in order, so you can go ahead and stop reading now! But, to those who have loved us, supported our many changes, laughed with us, danced with us, and maybe even cried with us, we wanted to give you this parting explanation, as well as a wholehearted thank you…
AdvertisementAdvertisementAs many of you who’ve followed us likely know, at the beginning of last year we had an incident with a Fox News anchor which resulted in being ceaselessly harassed by their followers, even to this day. After being targeted, we didn’t know if we would reopen again, and when we did, we knew we had to do our best to minimize potential harm to us and our community.
Since then, we’ve had our Instagram on private, put privacy screens on the gates outside, and changed our hours to make sure no one was working alone while we were operating. Even so, the fear of both our space and the sweet community of radical people who come here being targeted, never left.
While we’re honored by all the political ways paradis has touched and emboldened people, people who fight for a better world even and especially in a place like Florida, we’ve struggled with the reality that having a highly visible leftist space that also needs to operate as a business is extremely challenging. The journey we’ve been on has changed our lives, changed who we are, and also changed how much of a priority running paradis can reasonably be.
Truth be told, if our lives outside of paradis were easy and uncomplicated, this model would just maybe be sustainable, or maybe we’d have more of a capacity to mold it into something better, but unfortunately that hasn’t been the case.
