Added on February 7, 2024 Elizabeth Rhodes
37 Comments

Fitzgerald’s Causes Firestorm Over Racial Slur-Filled Email

Fitzgerald’s Causes Firestorm Over Racial Slur-Filled Email
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Houston producer TrakkSounds, also known as Garrett Brown, took to Twitter on Tuesday to post the contents of an email filled with racial slurs between the artist and the owner of music venue Fitzgerald’s, Sara Fitzgerald.

The ensuing responses from the Fitzgerald’s Twitter account follows below:

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According to the Houston Chronicle, a follow-up email that was not included in TrakkSounds’ original Twitter post reads as follows:

Why not have your artist play at your church? See if your mother likes that language. I see you started a blast against me on the net. Now who’s aggressive?

I get insulted when men submit music to me that refers to women as bitches and hoes, just like you would get insulted if a white man sent you music calling black men racial slurs. Your music plays into all stereotypes…gangsters, drugs, women hating, racial slurs, etc.

Hundreds of responses supporting the boycott of the venue were posted to Twitter within only hours of the original Tweets from TrakkSounds and the follow-up response from Fitzgerald’s, including posts supporting the boycott from both locals and out-of-town artists who have played the venue before.

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Free Press Houston had the opportunity to speak with owner Sara Fitzgerald about the email sent to TrakkSounds that was filled with racial slurs.

I quoted words from the song that he sent me. Those were from the song. I was offended. He referred to his girlfriend in the song as being ‘my pussy,’ you know, that bitch, that ho. I’m just tired of women being called names, you know? I’m sorry, it’s my building, it’s offensive to me. I shouldn’t have said anything, I guess, I should have said, ‘I don’t want to do the music.’ It’s like racism is the big issue, but what about sexism? That’s the issue for me, sexism.

Fitzgerald’s has hosted all genres of music over the last 40 years. There’s not one type of music we haven’t had represented here. We’ve had every kind of blues acts, country, Hispanic. There’s no racism here, but I won’t tolerate sexism. I’ve worked hard as a woman to build this business and I don’t allow people to come into my building and say ‘bitch’ and ‘ho.’ I’m not a bitch, I’m not a ho. I don’t appreciate that language. The language I sent back to him was all words from that song. I did not make those words up, I was referring to that song. The song was a rant about his pussy cheating on him and now he’s going to smoke somebody. You don’t own a woman.

Seeing that so far numerous artists and countless concertgoers have vowed to never play or attend a show at the venue thus far, only time will tell as to what will happen to Fitzgerald’s in the near future.

by Elizabeth Rhodes

  • John

    Kudos to Sara Fitzgerald for calling out the loser trash sexist (c)rap that passes for music. Gonna f**k my ho and go shoot a cop, great, let me hear it one more time. And a giant Go To Hell to the moron libtard crap-loving compatriots that have bought the con. Such dimwit goofs can only see racism where sane people see what this truly is: a cult celebrating misogynist, irresponsible, deplorable behavior, with associated highly unsavory elements, of the type Sara mentioned. Go ahead and play the race card, my libtard-twit friends. It’s the only one you’ve got, and it’s wearing increasingly thin. Who’s playing Fitz this week, I’m signing up to start visiting more often.

    • johnnyfooseball

      God, you sound like such a cunt. And this is coming from someone who also votes in the red. You’re just another dumbass wearing a tin foil hat, grouping all people who are in or a fan of hip-hop/rap music into one category and playing the morality card. It doesn’t take a genius to know that slapping a girl and shooting at a cop are bad things. And also, by calling out those using the “the race card” you are infact playing the race card. Think about that for a sec, I know it’s hard. People are different. And sometimes, people that share in a similar culture or way of life are the same…and guess what? That’s okay. It isn’t going to change….but how we deal with it should change. Also, here’s a protip; if you don’t want to be a gangbangin dope dealin’ bitch slappin’ gangsta cop killer….then don’t be. It’s a person’s choice to act upon all of those things, the music won’t do it for them. If it did, this entire country would resemble downtown Detroit. You should stop calling the liberals “lib-tards” until you address and comes to grips with your own mental handicap first.

  • Mansgame

    Do you have the full set of emails exchanged? For all we know, this is a publicity stunt by what’s his name.

  • TransplantedTexan

    Bullshit. What’s your hidden agenda here? Holding a club owner to a different standard. They’re a private business owner. They have the right to refuse….just like those wonderful bakers in Indiana…but Sara wasn’t invoking religious grounds. She was invoking her right as a business owner not to subject her female (and empathic male) audiences to sexism and misogyny. I applaud her!

  • TransplantedTexan

    Bullshit. I don’t buy your logic. Manners matter???? But not if you’re denigrating women with your “artistry?” You must be a man

  • TransplantedTexan

    Why can’t she call this ‘artist’ out on their lyrical content? That’s her right as a business owner. Had she just said nothings, then the rejection is open for a wide interpretation as to why. Sexism and misogyny are pretty specific and justifiable reasons.

  • Kenneth Thomas

    If perception is applied to the song lyrics then we would be on a slippery slope. Let’s not be hasty and call someone racist when we know they are not … that’s all I’m saying.

  • Mansgame

    I’ve been a Houstonian for a long time and for as long as I remember this has been Houston Press’s turf . Not going to claim I follow this stuff THAT closely but it’s weird that I didn’t even accidentally run into a Free Press magazine out int he wild and it’s been hard to avoid seeing a Houston Press magazine while getting lunch.

  • Kenneth Thomas

    I agree but she repeated every word from the song . How is that racist ? Those are words the artist said in his song… not her personal thoughts about anything . I guess she forgot to put everything in quotations.

  • johnnyfooseball

    The bitch has no point, music is a form of art, and once you start limiting art for other people because of the way it “makes you feel” that’s where the real problem lies. And who’s a little pot in the parking lot going to hurt? Shame on you Fitz. And really Trakksounds? Whining and posting the email on twitter? Classic millenial move there. Grow a set. Both of these people suck, and it really sucks that this will surely have a negative impact on the venue. It’s an iconic Houston landmark, and with such few left, it sucks that it will suffer because of all this fuckery.

    • TransplantedTexan

      Yeah, I once heard some musical art that came out of southern Louisiana when I was a little girl. It was a song all about how you could smell n—ers coming into town. The title was “Coon Town” It was really artistic. I just don’t understand why it didn’t make it to the top 10 charts. Maybe it was the way it made certain people “feel.” Just cuz you wrote it and perform it don’t make it art dixie flag dude. There are standards.

      • johnnyfooseball

        I get your point and appreciate the sarcasm. In theory, you’re on point. But let’s use some common sense here. Obviously a tune such as “Coon Town” wouldnt be allowed to be played at any venue who’s trying to run a legitimate business, and besides no one showing up for a live Coon Town set, there is a line that generally should not be crossed when it comes to this stuff. It’s not like that music is breeding creativity. Some good old hip-hop about bitches and ho’s and glocks isn’t anything mind boggling either, but it’s also a platform of expression for many artists and has many fans – so it obviously identifies with a large part of society. But if you want to argue that it’s the same expression of art but different content, and if you limit one then why not the other, you would be correct in theory. But the world doesn’t work on theory. That’s why not all rappers and their fans are out killing people and running prostitution rings. Some do, most don’t. And about my Dixie flag – it means a lot of things to a lot of people. I don’t get offended when people associate it with racism because I can understand how they would think that, but that doesn’t stop me from flying it because I associate it with something else – family, food and cuisine, the southern landscape, etc. But if we’re being honest, I just use it on an anon accoun to get a rise out of ppl. It’s funny and I just don’t give a fuck. And going back to what I was just saying, anyone can use any medium to spawn a culture of hate – whether it be rap music, confederate flags, whatever. But we just have to let those mediums exist and punish those who are out of their minds enough to act on their bullshit they’re pushing. Censoring the mediums just puts a limit on creativity and expression. People need to just get thicker skin.

      • johnnyfooseball

        Sick analogy dude..no shit. Want me to go back and dumb down my post for you to point out that art isnt the same thing as hate speech? I get it. Most people understand that. Rap, as shitty as it is sometimes, is generally considered a creative form of expression. Ergo, art. My issue here is that the owner (and probably people like you), feel like they are the ones who can set the standards of what is and isnt appropriate or good music for ppl to listen to. Let attendance and good booking business decide that. And yes, people like that do that because of their “feelings” with no consideration to others. Fuck that.

    • Mansgame

      At least you hate everybody…

  • Mansgame

    This is isn’t Microsoft boardroom though. It’s the nightclub business so there is a far less expectation of sugar coating things.

  • Chris Dethloff Greene

    She does not want musicians that promote exploitation and violence against women in her club. She evaluated his music by the song he submitted and she surmised the type of crowd it would attract by what she has experienced before. Why should her experiences with the audiences that are attracted by certain genres of music be discounted? She has owned that club and booked all types of music for probably 30+ years, I think she knows what she’s talking about.

    It’s a shame more music industry people don’t call out these misogynistic guys.

  • Mansgame

    What, did she hurt the “tough” rapper guy’s feelings? The same guy who calls women derogatory names can’t take a simple “I’ll pass” and has to cry about it on twitter?

  • James Dean

    Shame on you, Elizabeth and FPH for the horrible title to your article. Sara has been running a legitimate business through lotsa tough times and now you’re trying to do even more damage to her livelyhood by spreading lies through your keyboard, Elizabeth? Shame on YOU! How do you sleep at night? YOU and the FPH are the ones that should and will be boycotted!!! Y’all are disgusting!!!

    • Mansgame

      Free Press is a sad publication that would be pretty much unknown if it wasn’t for the music festival that has their name on it (even though they don’t even run it). They’re just trying to stir up the pot and get more visitors which sadly is working. This isn’t a Gaslamp situation.

    • Tatyana Tatyana

      This article is obviously in support of Fitzgerald simply by telling us the whole story.

  • artsontop

    Fitzie’s will survive and thrive, no problem. I respect the right of this business owner to include or exclude any artist or genre that she so chooses. Wanna see a good show?…see Wayne Hancock coming there in April…

  • Marc

    Idk I think Fitz needs to take a serious look at their situation. Maybe get a PR rep cause god almighty this is a pickle they got themselves in. It’s a business and as business owners your responsibility is to be cordial and respectful to everyone. Don’t like their music that’s fine but maybe make a stand against misogyny in a different way. Wrong place and time.
    I’ve played Fitz before and met and spoken with Sara a handful of times she’s a nice lady. I think this is a tough situation but I’d be heartbroken if this ruins Fitz as a venue. Chin up guys we can all get along.

  • Michael Wetherbee

    sorry but i think i’m with fitzgeralds on this… call me a racist if you must, but my Gf is cambodian/chinese so i’m extremely far from that. I voted for Obama 2 times… so can’t say i hate all blacks… I just hate ignorance and inflammatory people/music/culture in general. I do think it was a bit over the top with the response from Fitz but I do get where she’s coming from as well. I know I’d be pissed and wanna kill some little shit who would refer to either of my daughters as so many in the “gangsta and thug” culture refer to women.

    • Kerry Melonson

      I’m with you, but please don’t say you like black people and the proof is voting for obama… and dang, the way you framed it sounds racist as hell. “my gf is cambodian”? WTF,man?!!

      If you want people to listen to you don’t give yourself away as a racist. Geezus Krist, you don’t hate the black president so you don’t hate all black people?

      Forget about the gangster and thug culture. The white college age men culture is a fortress of rape culture where your passed out/ drugged/ semi conscious daughters will get raped by a white athlete who won’t be punished for his crime against a woman.

      You’re sounding real dumb. I’m going to call you a racist. Your daughters will be treated with more respect by a misogynistic raper. They’ll say some ugly stuff to your daughters in a song, but the guys sitting next to them in school don’t think anything of your daughters except to be an object to masturbate inside of when they have a sexual urge.

      • Michael Wetherbee

        LOL… you obviously don’t get that I was intending to sound as fucking stupid as this whole entire argument. fuck off nigga. happy now? LOL

        • Mansgame

          Paragraphs yo.

          • Michael Wetherbee

            better 😛 lol?

  • Bryan Dupont-Gray

    Okay, but let a white motherfucker run up in there with racial undertones and say absolutely nothing.

    I see you. Sara.

    • Mansgame

      When did she let that happen?

  • Oh fuck that whiny bitch Garrett, what a fucking douche-bag pussy. Who would want a bunch of saggy pants knuckleheads coming to their bar? Don’t buy drinks, don’t tip, and stink up the place with weed.

    • Mansgame

      I side with Fitz here but I don’t think your heart is in the right place given your flag.

  • darkskinforeskin

    That’s odd because when I went to Fitzgerald’s I could’ve sworn I seen Mo City Don Freestyle performed to a sold out crowd, so miss me with that sexism b.s.

  • Daniepwils

    She is wrong for stereotyping his fan base. However, he is just as bad for degrading women in his “art”…

    • Mansgame

      Are you his fanbase?

  • Mansgame

    Where is the racial slur? The title is misleading. Before the pitchforks are out, we should see all the email exchanges and not the ones the hiphopopotamus posted after getting his feelings hurt.

    • grant s

      Sadly those emails do not fit the narrative. Looks like I’m continuing my lifelong boycott of TrakkSounds.

      • Mansgame

        I didn’t even know who they were, but Fitz has been around for as long as I remember. I used to go there in the early 90’s and are a Houston institution.