*Gladys Knight is calling out President Joe Biden for ignoring her repeated requests for a sit-down to discuss her company Riccino Optical, which provides COVID-related products.
“Are the problems associated with African Americans not equal to those of other races? Why do we have to be last?” the music icon asks in a letter she penned to the president.
Per TMZ, Gladys’ company, Riccino Optical, “provides COVID-related products, including antigen tests, anti-fog goggles and face shields,” the outlet writes. Knight reportedly describes her company as an “African American woman-owned minority business.”
Knight is eying a government contract to provide PPEs to the public, but says she is being ignored. According to SandraRose readers, Riccino Optical is Chinese-owned.
One angry reader called the Gladys Knight story “an Outright lie.” She added: “Check your source. That optical company is Chinese owned company.”
READ MORE: Gladys Knight to Produce Series About Her Life, Singer Among Kennedy Center Honorees | Video
The singer says the feds are giving contracts to the “Good old boys’ network of Washington D.C. insiders.”
Gladys wrote her letter to Biden in June. In it, she says, “It is extraordinarily insulting to watch news reports … that a boy band from South Korea, BTS, had an in-person meeting with President Biden.”
Knight adds, “As a longtime, Democrat and Civil rights warrior, as well as a legendary entertainer that has met with President Biden many times in my life, the difficulty of setting up a meeting with him over these issues makes no sense.”
She continues, “It appears as if only youth-oriented artists even if they are not Americans will be greeted in the ‘People’s House’ by our President. I know it is always harder for African Americans to get justice and fair level playing fields in business, but this is becoming ludicrous.”
Read her full letter here.
In related news, Knight was honored last week at the 45th Kennedy Center Honors for her artistic achievements. The singer received a National Medal of Arts from President Biden.
