A hairy situation turned bloody at a barbershop after a hairdresser started chopping off a girl’s new braids after her mother allegedly refused to pay a $25 late fee.
An 11-year-old girl had an appointment to get her hair braided in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but she and her mother, who is six months pregnant, showed up 10 minutes late, the girl’s grandmother Conchota Singleton said in a social media post. The 10-minute grace period was a policy issued by the stylist, who was an independent contractor, according to the shop owner.
Shocking video footage captured how the dispute over the late fee led to a fight between the two adults; the girl’s mother walked away with cuts on her hand.
At the start of the clip, the 11-year-old is sitting in the salon chair as the stylist holds the girl’s fresh braids. The girl’s mother then walks across the barbershop and approaches the hairdresser. The women start arguing. The stylist continues to hold onto the girl’s braids.
After about 40 seconds of what appears to be some disagreement — the video has no sound — the hairdresser turns around and grabs scissors from her station with her right hand while her left hand keeps its grip on the child’s locks.
The stylist appears to then start braiding a piece of the girl’s hair when the mother grabs all of her daughter’s braids with her right hand. That’s when the hairdresser positions the scissors as if she’s about to cut the 11-year-old’s hair.
The mom then yanks the girl’s hair toward her and away from the scissors. The hairdresser pulls the hair back toward her, launching what resembles a tug-of-war with the girl’s braids as the rope.
The exchange only lasts a few seconds because the mom hugs the daughter’s braids closest to the girl’s head toward her chest while the stylist stops pulling and instead appears to start snipping the longer pieces.
The mother then pushes the stylist’s scissor-wielding hand away and holds up her palm as if signaling for the stylist to stop. But the hairdresser doesn’t relent. She goes back, scissors first, toward the girl’s hair, prompting the mother to swing her daughter’s hair — and the girl attached to it — forward, away from the hairdresser.
The stylist continues to try to point scissors at the girl’s braids while the mom uses her arm as a shield and bats the scissors away.
The 11-year-old, now standing in front of the chair, and her mom then shift farther from the hairdresser but the hairdresser follows. The trio is entangled and the women look as if they’re yelling at one another when a male hairdresser across the shop and his client try to intervene.
The male hairdresser stands between the mother-daughter duo and the female hairdresser while the other client appears to be holding her scissor-wielding hand. The five people stand like that for 30 seconds as the women maintain a grip on the girl’s hair. At one point, the child seems off-balance, with left foot in the air and her head pulled back toward the stylist.
During this huddle, the male hairdresser appears to be talking to his coworker, trying to calm her down, and eventually she seems to let go of the girl’s braids. The child then turns toward her mom.
Two minutes after the altercation began, the group breaks apart and the hairdresser unsnaps the black haircutting cape from the girl’s neck and the girl spins closer to the door. But her mom and the hairdresser still appear to angrily exchange words. The daughter grabs her mom by the arm and pulls her toward the door trying to extract her from the situation.
The 11-year-old was “traumatized,” her grandmother said.
Police responded to the incident, but no one was charged, WBRZ reported. The outlet obtained a photo of the mother’s scraped-up hand, covered in cuts. “We were told she wasn’t intentionally trying to hurt my daughter,” Singleton wrote.
TJ Malveaux, owner of Draft Picks Barbershop, told The Independent that the stylist was terminated within 24 hours of the incident.
Malveaux issued a statement in the wake of the incident. “We extend our sincerest apologies to the client and family affected, and to anyone who may feel uneasy as a result of this situation,” he said. “As many of you know, this incident does not reflect the values or standards we uphold at Draft Picks. We are taking immediate steps to review and strengthen our policies, as well as provide additional training to our staff, to ensure that every client continues to feel safe, respected, and welcomed in our chairs.”
