The stylist who did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) hair earlier this week that sparked reaction after footage circulated is appearing to agree with the House speaker’s accusation that it was a “set-up.”
Pelosi found herself under fire from Republicans when video footage circulated that showed her getting her hair done at a San Francisco hair salon. The city is still banning indoor hair salon services amid the coronavirus pandemic, and Pelosi was seen with her mask pulled down in the video.
However, Pelosi then accused the salon of a “set-up.”
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, the House speaker said, “I take responsibility for trusting the word of a neighborhood salon that I’ve been to over the years many times,” adding, “And that when they said, ‘We’re able to accommodate people, one person at a time and that we can set up that time,’ I trusted that.”
“As it turns out, it was a set-up. So I take responsibility for falling for a set-up,” Pelosi said.
She also called on the salon to apologize to her for the alleged “set-up.”
Now, hairstylist Jonathan DeNardo seems to agree with Pelosi’s claim that it was a “set-up.”
DeNardo’s lawyer Matthew Soleimanpour said in a statement, “The fact that Ms. Kious is now objecting to Speaker Pelosi’s presence at eSalon, and from a simple surface-level review of Ms. Kious’ political leanings, it appears Ms. Kious is furthering a set-up of Speaker Pelosi for her own vain aspirations,” according to the statement obtained by San Francisco’s KRON-TV.
“Mr. DeNardo’s name has now been dragged through the mud for simply following Ms. Kious’ recommendations,” the statement continued.
“Mr. DeNardo, at all times, took all requisite safety measures throughout his appointment with Speaker Pelosi, including sanitation of all service areas and wearing of CDC-recommended protective equipment, and thereafter ensured the premises were similarly sanitized following Speaker Pelosi’s departure.”
In the statement, the lawyer also claims that DeNardo received approval from the salon owner. It alleges that salon owner Erica Kious “took special interest in the appointment during this telephone call, wherein she made several vitriolic and incendiary comments about Speaker Pelosi and her purported responsibility for temporarily suspending operations of Ms. Kious’ business, despite such orders actually being put into place not by Speaker Pelosi, but by Governor Gavin Newsome and San Francisco Mayor London Breed.”
Amid the criticism as the video circulated, Kious told Fox News, “It was a slap in the face that she went in, you know, that she feels that she can just go and get her stuff done while no one else can go in, and I can’t work.”
DeNardo also claimed that Kious had been operating the business during stay-at-home orders and “styling various clients’ hair, ignoring social distancing guidelines, and not wearing protective equipment (masks).”
The statement added that Kious apparently encouraged“almost forcing stylists who operate at eSalon to violate such orders for her own financial benefit in the form of receiving lease payments.”
Kious appeared on Fox News Wednesday evening where she denied it was a “set-up,” as she said, “I’ve had a camera system in there for five years. I mean, I didn’t go in there and turn cameras on as soon as she walked in and set her up. So that is absolutely false.”