A man has been refused entry to a bar in Perth because he has a mullet haircut.
Cooper Allin had just enjoyed his first beer in a pub with family and friends after turning 18 when he decided to visit El Grotto (below). But he was turned away at the entrance by the bouncer.
“He said, ‘no mullets allowed’,” Allin told 7News.
“To have one beer and get told, ‘No, you can’t come in because of your hair’, was a bit devastating. I reckon it’s a bit silly I mean, it’s a mullet, heaps of people have mullets.”
Allin said he thought it was his attire that would be more problematic, as he was wearing thongs and a T-shirt.
“I was more concerned about my pluggers (thongs) but he (the bouncer) wasn’t too fussed about that,” he said.
“I wasn’t there to have a haircut, I was there to sink frothies.”
Australian Hotels Association WA chief executive Bradley Woods said it’s legal for bars to set and police their own dress standards.
“There are venues that are mullet friendly,” he explained. “So it’s just a question of finding the right bar or club that likes mullets.”
Allin isn’t the first Aussie to claim mullet discrimination. Back in 2018, Rockhampton man Jed Gadsby (above) travelled to Brisbane to celebrate a friend’s birthday. But security guards at Retro’s and The Royal George Hotel (RG’s) said he was not welcome because of his hair.
“To turn someone away because of their haircut, like a mullet, is pretty un-Australian,” he told A Current Affair.
“Do I have to get a haircut to go out drinking with my mates?”
Mullets making a comeback
Miley Cyrus made headlines last month when she stepped out with a mullet.
“She is channelling her inner bogan,” said Laura Johnson, landlord of the Chelmsford Hotel in Kurri Kurri and founder of the annual Mulletfest. “And why wouldn’t she?”
“Next year we want her to come and be the celebrity judge of our mullet competition.”
Her dad, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, was the first mullet-sporting singer to hit triple platinum status in the Australian charts with his hit Achy Breaky Heart.
And Adelaide treenager Adam Ludewig, who calls himself Mr Mullet on Instagram, was described as the star of the season launch of Nine’s The Voice.
All four coaches turned their chairs for Ludewig, with Guy Sebastian noting: “Sick mullet. We love a good mullet in Adelaide.”
WA Premier’s verdict on mulletgate
Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan dissolved into laughter as he was asked at a press conference to comment on mullet discrimination.
“I just encourage people with mullets to rise up and rebel against these extreme rules pubs are imposing,” McGowan said.
“I think you should be free to have a mullet, and go to a pub. I don’t think there should be rules around that.”
McGowan added that “some of my best friends have mullets”.
“If you’ve got a mullet it shouldn’t preclude you from going out and having a beer in my view,” he said.
“We want all those West Australians with mullets who are great contributing people to get out there and spend money and take holidays with Western Australia, great opportunity.”
Meanwhile, the owners of the Swinging Pig in Rockingham are giving free meals to the Premier and anyone named Mark, Marc, Marcus or Marco over the weekend. It’s in celebration of Phase 4 easing of restrictions in the state. Read more.
