Master P Under Fire For Latest Business Venture

Master P continues to give back to his hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana but this time there has been some backlash. 

Master P partnered with Rouses Markets to open Guste Grocery, a small store in an underserved area of New Orleans. However, there have been calls to boycott the store since Rouses Markets is actually co-owned by Donald Rouse Sr., a supporter of former President Donald Trump, who participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building  on Jan. 6, but says he was not a part of the violence. 

According to WWLTV, at the opening of the store on March 23, his son, Donny Rouse, who is the current CEO said, “I wasn’t involved in the controversy. That’s something my dad did on his personal time. It doesn’t involve Rouses supermarkets. We’re a good company. We have over 7,000 great employees. We serve thousands of customers every day, so we’re here for communities like we’ve always been. We’re going to continue to grow with our communities.” 

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Rouse Sr., who is the retired owner and no longer involved in the day-to-day operations, attended the store opening, but did not make a statement. 

Master P said about the controversy, “None of us out here can point the finger and say is your life perfect? Have you done everything right?”

After calls to boycott, the Louisiana NAACP severed ties with Rouses Markets.

Although they did not support a boycott, Dr. Michael McClanahan, Louisiana NAACP conference president, said to Atlanta Black Star on March 13, “You can’t say the ex-president, that’s your idol and expect us to do nothing about it. After he (Trump) has done everything he could to roll back all the gains we’ve (Black people) made in America. We just won’t stand for that.” 

McClanahan also added, “We had a relationship at the state level. We saw those things, those pictures, and we immediately sent out letters saying we were severing ties with them.”

Rouses Markets are located in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. They approximately have 64 stores with roughly 6,500 employees. 

Donald Rouse Sr. has since apologized for attending the Jan. 6 insurrection.