Tom Morello's rage at cafe staff

Tom Morello is embroiled in a war of words with a Seattle restaurant after he was refused entry.

The Rage Against The Machine guitarist went to The 5 Point Cafe in the city with a group of friends after his performance at a fair pay benefit concert on Friday night.

Morello had appeared alongside Chris Cornell at the 15 Now event earlier in the day, which successfully fought for a $15 minimum wage in Seattle. But when he was told there were no tables available at the restaurant, Morello said via Twitter: “Five Point restaurant in Seattle is the worst. Super rude & anti-worker. Shittiest doorman in the Northwest. Prick. Spread the word.”

The cafe’s owner David Meinert later responded on Facebook, saying: “For the record, Tom Morello, The 5 Point is totally pro worker. Sorry if you had an issue with our staff, but typically our staff is awesome, and when they are not, it’s usually a reflection of the customer. Act like a prick = get treated like a prick.

“Rock stars don’t get special treatment at The 5 Point. We couldn’t give less of a shit.”

Meinert later added: “Turns out Tom and his crew didn’t get let in as the place was at capacity and there was a line. No one was being let in. According to our doorman, who I totally trust, Tom and his crew were all totally rude.”

Morello then said he would forgive the doorman if Meinert “fully embraces #15Now min wage.”

The guitar icon, who also plays live with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, has been a long-time campaigner for workers’ rights. He co-founded political group Axis Of Justice with System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian.

This year, RATM drummer Brad Wilk said the band had probably played their last gig together.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.