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Fortnum & Mason were forced to apologise after Paralympic sprinter Zac Shaw called them out for treating Olympic and Paralympic athletes differently during the organisation of an exclusive after party.
Members of Team GB and ParalympicsGB both attended a reception at Buckingham Palace on Thursday 7 November to celebrate the country’s successes at the Paris 2024 Games this summer but only the Olympic athletes were issued invitations to a four-hour after party hosted by the London department store.
Shaw, a visually impaired sprinter who won silver in the mixed 4x100m and bronze in the 100m T12 in Paris, was informed of the party by one of his Olympian friends who had mentioned it at the reception. He said it was ‘hurtful’ and ‘unfair’ that Paralympians were not treated to the same courtesy of an invitation.
Having initially reached out to the luxury store privately Shaw took to social media to call out the mistreatment when he did not hear back from them.
He posted on X, formerly Twitter: “Hi @Fortnums as you’re aware, the Olympic and Paralympic medalists were invited to Buckingham Palace yesterday. It would be nice to understand why you hosted an after party for the Olympic medalists but made the decision not to invite the Paralympic medalists? Why?”
Speaking further about the situation, he added: “It’s just hurtful and I mean you have situations like this honestly so frequently, whether it’s brands, prize money, even hosting a Paralympic race at a competition.
“For me … being under the same roof as the king and all the Olympic and Paralympic medallists in one place, but the Paralympic medallists have to get in the car and drive home while the Olympic medallists get to enjoy a four-hour after-party with champagne bottles with their name engraved into it. It’s just unfair.”
Shaw later posted a reply from a spokesperson for Fortnum & Mason on his Instagram account showing an apology and a claim that there was a separate event for Paralympians ‘in the works’.
The statement read: “We are really sorry that we could not do both of the planned parties together, which would have been our preference, but we are restricted on space and simply could not have fitted everyone in at the same time.
“However, there has been a failure of communication on our part here and we are truly sorry. We really hope to make it up to you when we get everyone together to celebrate.
“Thank you for your patience and we will get back to you personally with the details soonest.”
