Raye's racism accusation denied by London restaurant

A London restaurant has denied accusations of racism by Raye.

The singer claims her friend was not allowed in to the Ivy Chelsea Garden because he's black.

The restaurant says Raye's friend was refused entry "because he was wearing non-smart casual clothing".

Raye was upset because her white, female friend was allowed in wearing shorts and trainers - the same as her black friend - which the restaurant says was a "mistake".

"We're not coming back to the Ivy again, it's disgusting, it's absolutely disgusting. It's racist," Raye said in a video posted on Instagram.

The Ivy Chelsea says some of her group were "not thought to be dressed appropriately" and it was "nothing to do with racism".

The restaurant said in a statement: "The dress code for our restaurant is smart casual. We are sorry that this was not made clear on our website and other channels and this ambiguity has now been rectified.

"The Ivy Chelsea Garden takes all allegations of racism extremely seriously and we will make sure that our dress code is explained to all guests so that this confusion does not happen again."

Raye and a friend had been at the gym before arriving at the Ivy, where she says she eats frequently.

"The guy who was meant to be meeting us called me and was like: 'I'm so sorry but they're not letting me in'," Raye said.

Raye says her friend wasn't allowed in due to his trainers, but that plenty of other people were dressed "casually".

She claims her white female friend, who accompanied her to the Ivy, was wearing shorts, trainers and a jumper and was allowed in.

In the Instagram video Raye compares what both her friends are wearing and accuses a member of staff of not letting one of them in because he's black.

"If your laws and rules are smart casual then you enforce that on everybody, white and black. You don't pick and choose," Raye told Newsbeat.

At the time of the accusation the restaurant's website said it had no dress code "but our guests generally are smart casual".

That has since been updated to state that the dress code is smart casual.

Raye says her friend was allowed into the restaurant wearing shorts and trainers

"I was honestly so upset, beyond words," Raye told Newsbeat.

"We need to make light and make a fuss when these situations are happening because this happens all too much and it goes under the radar and nobody does anything about it," she said.

The Ivy Chelsea Garden is part of the Ivy Collection group of restaurants, which includes famous celebrity hangout The Ivy in Covent Garden.

It describes itself as "sophisticated yet approachable" and "casual yet polished", and says it can be found in "carefully selected locations" around the country.

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