Kevin Sorbo claims he recently made “a scene in public” by refusing to put on a mask at a coffee shop. It isn’t clear if this actually happened, but it is true that Sorbo caused another scene… on Twitter.
Sorbo, who it must be said did not provide photographic or video evidence of the event, said on Tuesday that during a recent visit to Starbucks in Los Angeles, the staff asked him to put on a mask. That would be because Los Angeles County recently brought back indoor mask mandates as COVID-19 cases rise.
Here’s how the “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” actor described what happened next. “I’m not proud of this but i just made a scene in public for the first time in my life. I walked into Starbucks and they asked me to put a mask on. I yelled this is BS. I turned around and walked out. I know what you’re thinking… My first mistake was walking into a Starbucks!”
The punch line makes us think this might be an attempted joke. Starbucks is after all frequently the target of insults and more than a few obvious hoaxes designed to anger conservatives who, for nebulous reasons, widely believe Starbucks is a leftist institution. And Sorbo is a vocal Donald Trump supporter and proponent of the baseless conspiracy theory that the Jan. 6 insurrection was a false flag intended to frame Trump.
But again, it’s not clear whether or not the whole comment was a joke, or if Sorbo just slipped the Starbucks insult into an otherwise on-the-level story about being needlessly rude to minimum wage-earning workers.
Joke or not, plenty of people assumed Sorbo was being serious and roasted him enthusiastically. “Law and Order: SVU” showrunner Warren Leight said, “I’m thinking be a big man and put your mask on instead of yelling at workers, @ksorbs.”
And “Billions” showrunner Brian Koppelman said, “put on a mask bro and suck down that Frappuccino or whatnot. mask up, kid. simple.”
Podcast host Scott Wampler also called Sorbo “Karen Hercules” for his outburst.
Luckily for Sorbo though, the LA County Sheriff’s Department won’t be doing anything to legally enforce the reprised mask mandates. “Forcing the vaccinated and those who already contracted COVID-19 to wear masks indoors is not backed by science and contradicts the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines,” Sheriff Alex Villanueva said Friday.
See more reactions to Sorbo’s situation below.