A popular Bay Area yoga instructor was fired over the weekend because of her relationship with a Petaluma man who runs an antisemitic website and organization that the Anti-Defamation League said is responsible for “at least 74 antisemitic propaganda incidents,” including recent events in which antisemitic flyers were distributed in the Bay Area.
Jeff Renfro, who owns Hella Yoga and Funky Door Yoga in Berkeley and Yoga Hell in Petaluma, told The Chronicle he fired instructor Kelly Johnson over the weekend and terminated an agreement to sell one of the businesses to her because of the involvement of her boyfriend, Jon Minadeo Jr., in Goyim TV, a website that broadcasts antisemitic videos and other antisemitic activities.
A message announcing the firing was splashed across the colorful home pages for the Hella Yoga and Yoga Hell — reading “We are a firm believer in diversity and inclusion, due to recent activities brought to our attention Kelly Johnson is no longer affiliated with Hella Yoga Berkeley or Yoga Hell Petaluma.”
In a phone interview, Johnson told The Chronicle that she does not share her boyfriend’s beliefs and that she was hurt by her depiction as a racist.
The firing was first reported by J., the Jewish News of Northern California.
It followed a series of incidents in which antisemitic flyers stuffed in plastic sandwich bags with rice for ballast were distributed in several locations around the Bay Area, including the Berkeley hills, Palo Alto, Tiburon and the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco. Goyim TV is responsible for the flyers, Minadeo told The Chronicle, but said he did not personally distribute them.
In an email to present and past customers, Renfro said he decided to fire Johnson because she “seems to share (Minadeo’s) beliefs and had assisted him in his business of hate.” He told The Chronicle he found evidence on a computer they shared that Johnson registered Goyim TV as a California corporation.
“We were devastated to find out that someone so close to us could be so far from our values,” the email said.
It also said that the monthly profits from Hella Yoga will be donated on an ongoing basis to an Auschwitz memorial fund.
“I am really hurt that they have gone this far to lie about me and say these things about me that are untrue,” Johnson said. “I am a very loving person and have relationships and friendships with all kinds of people. It’s really hard to read this. It’s all lies.”
Johnson described herself as a “giving person” who “wants to be known for making a difference in people’s lives,” adding that she and Minadeo had sought out legal advice.
“This is the most slanderous, lying, evilest thing I have ever seen someone do to anyone else,” Minadeo said.
Minadeo said “Goyim TV is about uniting all races against the Jewish supremacy.” His girlfriend, he said, doesn’t share his beliefs and isn’t involved in his activities. He also said that he agreed to stop posting daily videos to Goyim TV about a month ago in an effort to smooth over the dispute with Renfro, but that it didn’t work.
“I’m not responsible for someone else’s beliefs and what they do,” Johnson said.
Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ctuan
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Bay-Area-yoga-teacher-fired-over-boyfriend-s-16965215.php
