Curvy women speak out after they’re denied entry to Hollywood nightclub: ‘It was so dehumanizing’


These buxom beauties are blowing the whistle on an alleged body-shaming bouncer. 

Plus-size models Gabriella Halikas and Alexa Jay are virally blasting Los Angeles hot spot the Highlight Room for allegedly denying them access into the club due to the sizes of their bodies. 

“We’re feeling absolutely sick to our stomachs about what happened,” says Halikas, 25, a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, in her trending Instagram tell-all. 

Her two-part video series has amassed a combined 2.1 million views. 

“I got invited to Highlight Room for my friend’s birthday,” says Jay, a 24-year-old curvy influencer, noting that she was “definitely the biggest” person on line for the party. 

Plus-size models Gabriella Halikas (left) and Alexa Jay call out LA hot spot Highlight Room and other nightclubs for refusing them entry due to their size.

Gabriella and Alexa claim that the Highlight Room bouncer looked them up and down and said "not tonight," barring them form the club.
Halikas and Jay claim that the Highlight Room bouncer looked them up and down and said, “Not tonight,” barring them form the club.

“The [club] promoter starts letting in the whole group of girls,” Jay continues. “And when it gets to me, the bouncer puts the rope in front, looks me up and down and says, ‘Yeah, not tonight.’ ”

And even after Jay explained that she was with the party of women he’d just admitted into the club, the doorman allegedly doubled down on his refusal to grant her entry. 

“At that point, it was extremely apparent what was going on,” she says. “I was being discriminated against [because] of the size of my body.”

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And when Halikas intervened, hoping for an explanation from the unnamed guy about his apparent prejudice, the bouncer allegedly told her to bounce, too. 

“I’m like, ‘Hi sir, it’s just us four. What’s going on?’ ” she recalls asking the man in a “super calm” tone.

Gabriella, a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, said she chose to publicly call out The Highlight Room on behalf of other people who've also experienced body bias.
Halikas, a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model, said she chose to publicly call out the Highlight Room on behalf of other people who’ve also experienced body bias.
@ellahalikas/Instagram

Her peaceful approach notwithstanding, the brunette claimed the club’s cruel watchman “looked me up and down and was like, ‘Not tonight.’ ”

In a statement to The Post, a spokesperson for Tao Group Hospitality, which owns the Highlight Room, said, in part: “We are aware of Ella and Alexa’s experience.

“The doorman on this particular evening worked for a third-party promotion company and we’ve removed this individual from the door effective immediately,” the statement continues. “Our company does not tolerate discrimination of any kind.”

But on Instagram, the lookers insisted that this wasn’t an isolated incident. 

In fact, the full-figure foxes claimed that they’d previously been barred from other nightclubs and lounges owing to their shapes. 

In a statement to The Post, a representative for The Highlight Room said that the doorman in question has since been removed.
In a statement to The Post, a representative for the Highlight Room said that the doorman in question has since been removed.
@thehighlightroom/Instagram

“We’re tired of playing safe. We’re tired of just letting this happen and not speaking up about it,” Halikas says in her video. 

“It was so dehumanizing,” Jay adds, claiming that the Highlight Room doorman treated her and Halikas as if they were “the scum of the earth.”

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“It was like we were being looked through,” she says. “If you experienced any type of discrimination like this, you know exactly how horrible and disgusting it feels and we are no longer letting this fly.”

“You got me f–ked up!” Jay exclaims. 

Commenters on Instagram agreed that the entire ordeal was completely “f–ked up.”

“Oh my gosh. This is absolutely horrible. [The Highlight Room] should be ashamed,” scolded an outraged onlooker. 

Alexa claimed that the bouncer treated her and Alexa "like the scum of the earth" due to their sizes.
Jay claimed that the bouncer treated her and Halikas “like the scum of the earth” due to their sizes.
@alexaaajay/Instagram

“This is so utterly disgusting and unfair,” barked another. 

“WTF this is sickening” wrote an equally enraged viewer. 

Others empathized with Halikas and Jay, revealing that they, too, have suffered body bigotry. 

“The same thing happens in Manhattan,” penned a victim of bias. 

“Happened to me once or twice when I was in the Meatpacking District,” she continued, noting she was a size 14 at the time of the incident. “They said the only way we could get in is if we got a table and had to buy bottles.”

To comments like that, Halikas said on Instagram: “We’re not complaining because we can’t get into Highlight Room … It’s for that girl or that person that’s bigger who does not have a voice.”

“We have so much privilege,” said Jay. “And we need to come [on Instagram] and make it know that this s–t is not OK anymore.”

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