Home Depot Fires Back at Tyrese Gibson's $1 Million Lawsuit with Security Footage, Retailer Says Video Disputes Racism Claims
Sept. 29 2023, Published 4:30 p.m. ET
Home Depot fired back at Tyrese Gibson with security camera footage that the retailer claimed disproved the actor's racism allegations, RadarOnline.com has learned.
Gibson sued the home improvement retailer for $1 million and accused a store employee of racial profiling over a dispute during checkout.
According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Home Depot claimed security footage from the store contradicted Gibson's version of events.
The retailer said the 2 Fast 2 Furious actor visited the store and brought several items to the register. The cashier then rang up all of Gibson's items. Home Depot claimed that after the products were scanned for purchase, Gibson went back to browsing the store for 25 minutes.
When Gibson allegedly abandoned the initial checkout process, Home Depot claimed the cashier was forced to cancel the transaction, which meant the items needed to be scanned for a second time for Gibson to purchase.
The retailer's response varied drastically from Gibson's account, in which the Fast X star blamed a computer glitch for interrupting the checkout. Gibson said that due to the alleged glitch causing a delay, people in the store began to recognize him and he became uncomfortable with the attention.
Gibson claimed that in an attempt to escape the unwanted attention, he told the cashier he was going to wait in the parking lot while two helpers finished the transaction with his credit card. The actor alleged that the cashier agreed and understood what he was asking.
Gibson further claimed he accepted a FaceTime call from the cashier while in the parking lot as the helpers completed the checkout process. Home Depot, however, insisted that this was not the case.
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The retailer claimed Gibson was not seen speaking face-to-face with any employee at the store. Additionally, the cashier and store manager denied agreeing to Gibson's helpers using his credit card, insisting the actor was required to come back into the store to show ID for purchase.
Home Depot said that footage captured Gibson returning to the store before getting into a tense discussion with an employee. The retailer said Gibson could be seen showing his ID for proof of purchase, at which point the cashier completed the transaction.
Gibson addressed Home Depot's claims and told the outlet he wasn't going to be "bullied" by the retailer.
Gibson told TMZ that he was "taking a stand against The Home Depot in defense of our own civil rights and the civil rights of all who have been subjected to discriminatory practices and consumer racial profiling."
"The Home Depot and its team of attorneys seek to deny our claims and silence our voices as reflected in their most recent court filing. But we will not back down. We will not be bullied. We will use all of our energy to correct the conduct of the company, in service of the broader goal of a shared future free from discrimination."