Whitaker Gets Apology From NY Deli

The owner of a Manhattan deli, where Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker was accused of shoplifting and frisked, has apologized and says the employee who patted down the actor is "no longer with us."

Speaking to "TMZ Live," Anthony Galofaro, the owner of Milano Market, expressed his regret over Friday's incident and offered to "make a donation to a charity of Mr. Whitaker's choice to rectify this wrongdoing."

He said the employee who stopped the actor outside the deli was a "decent man" who was "just doing his job."

"We have a lot of shoplifters here," Galofaro said Monday. "It was very busy. He thought (Whitaker) took something and he wasn't sure."

The worker later apologized, but Galofaro said the man, a longtime employee, is "no longer here with us. … He doesn't want to come here, that's how much hurt he is. …It was a sincere mistake."

Still, Galofaro said he was unsure whether he would take the man back. "My job is to make sure this won't happen again," he said, adding that he is taking steps to retrain workers.

He also insisted that the incident had nothing to do with race. "It hurts me more than anything else what I've been hearing in the papers," he said about the accusations of racism.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/forest-whitaker-gets-apology-ny-deli-200156859--abc-news-celebrities.html
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/forest-whitaker-stopped-frisked-upper-east-side-deli-article-1.1266100