Tammy Rivera posted on Oct. 25 that she was racially profiled while shopping at CVS. Rivera claimed the employee followed her in the store while she picked up a few things including a hair wrap and hair oil. Although the reality star and singer didn’t disclose her location in the Instagram video, she did, however, share the employee’s name in her caption, “Ginger.”
Rivera stated, “I’m in CVS, I come here almost every other night. I know almost every person that works in this store. I came here to get some satin hair wraps and some DOO Gro oil.”
Rivera added while pointing the camera at Ginger, “This lady [stood] here, she must be new, she [stood] here, and she watched me on the aisle acting like she was fixing stuff on the aisle. I’m watching her watch me.”
The 35-year-old said that Ginger watched her “so hard” when she opened the box containing the satin wrap that the CVS worker immediately told her, “Don’t do that.” Rivera also said that when she asked the worker who she was talking to, Ginger reiterated what she said.
Rivera replied that she could open it because she plan to purchase the item. Ginger responded saying, “No, you cannot, don’t do that.” While both women continued going back and forth, the Rivera said, “What you thought was, I was a child or someone stealing because you [stood] there and you watched for two aisles, and I watched you watch me, and I didn’t say anything, not one thing.”
At the end of the video, Rivera says why she was upset because of Ginger’s delivery. She stated, “It was the mannerisms and [how] you spoke to me like I was as a child. … Why are you watching me from two aisles away telling me not to open something that I’m about to pay for?”
Rivera ended the recording by mentioning when Ginger asked her to leave the store, she suggested the worker call the police. Ginger laughed in the background, “Then she’s going to tell me to leave the store. I told her to call the police. … You’re about to be on Instagram to 7.5 million followers, so laugh at that.”
Rivera later clarified what took place saying she went to CVS to get hydrocortisone for mosquito bites she got from her recent trip to Belize. While in the drugstore she got a few additional items, like satin hair wrap and DOO Gro oil while she claimed the employee Ginger monitored her every move.
Rivera said, “As I walk in, I watched this lady watch me through three aisles, and I watched her stand behind the corner aisle acting like she’s fixing stuff…Not once did she greet me, not once did she ask if I need help with anything, instead as soon as she saw me do something that was against store policy, she [said] ‘Don’t do that!’”
