TIVERTON, R.I. (WPRI) — Yelp has suspended reviews for a Tiverton restaurant after it posted a controversial meme on its social media account last week.
The Atlantic Sports Bar and Restaurant has received sharp criticism since it posted a photo of Anne Frank on its Facebook page with the caption: “It’s hotter than an oven out there … and I should know!”
The controversial social media post was first reported by Jessica Machado at WBSM Radio.
The post has since been deleted, though it’s unclear whether the restaurant removed it or it was taken down by Facebook.
The restaurant apologized in a separate post for sharing the meme, according to The Boston Globe. The restaurant’s Facebook page as since been deleted.
The Atlantic began receiving negative reviews on Yelp within hours after the meme was posted.
“This restaurant posted an offensive, distasteful and antisemitic meme recently,” one person wrote.
“Your antisemitic remark is absolutely disgusting,” another Yelp user said.
This prompted the restaurant review platform to temporarily disable comments Wednesday afternoon.
In an alert to users, Yelp said it’s suspending reviews as they investigate the content that has caused “increased public attention.”
“While racism has no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism or discrimination in any form, all reviews on Yelp must reflect an actual first-hand consumer experience (even if that means disabling the ability for users to express points of view we might agree with),” the restaurant review platform stated.
12 News has reached out to The Atlantic for comment but has not yet heard back.
Frank, a 15-year-old Jewish girl, died during the Holocaust. She and her family were captured by the Nazis after hiding inside an attic for more than two years. The teen is most known for the diary she kept during that time, which has since been published.
