The reason why Tyler, The Creator got fired from Starbucks: “I still hate her”
It’s hard to imagine Tyler, The Creator doing anything except whatever the hell he wants, but there was once a time when he had to work regular jobs in able to make ends meet. Before his Odd Future fame, the Los Angeles rapper was an employee at FedEx and Starbucks, although working for the giant coffee chain came with several benefits.
Tyler worked at Starbucks for around two and a half years. Despite disliking the job overall, he got by with a little help from stealing cheese danishes every day. Things were going well in his role until a new manager came in, who he immediately hated. She ended up firing him, but it turned out to be a turning point for his career.
“This lady named Cindy, she was the new manager, she hated on me and she fired me,” he said during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “I hope she’s watching ’cause I still hate her. I hate you, Cindy. I hate you so much. I hope [she’s aware of my success]. Her firing me was the greatest moment of my life. My chains were free.”
Hilariously, in hindsight, Tyler was given a brief warning that he was about to get sacked. During the short timeframe, he was trying to work out how to respond. “One of the shift managers warned me like 10 minutes before she fired me,” he recalled. “So I had nine minutes to call my mum, asking her what I should do. It was tight. Somebody was like, ‘Yo, you getting fired in nine minutes, boy.’
“First, [my mum] was going to sue Starbucks. Then, we figured out they did nothing wrong. That was five minutes, so I had about four minutes left to figure out what to do. So, I manned up and said, ‘Alright, I’ll get fired,’ and I ate like three cheese danishes.”
Tyler is rebellious by nature, but is generally an all-around respectful person. Working at Starbucks was never going to be the final destination for his career, but he considered himself to be a polite employee. In his opinion, the new manager disliked the fact that he didn’t pretend to be someone he’s not, combined with his young age making him fearless.
“I was nice, I was cool with people, man, I liked talking to people,” he admitted. “I didn’t kiss arse to the people who worked there and the manager. And I think she found that intimidating. Also, I was the youngest there, so I had that attitude like, worst comes to worst, I can find another job, and I think she didn’t like that. That’s why she just blew me off.”
Starbucks are known for getting names wrong on their coffee orders, but that wasn’t a problem for Tyler. If he was confused about someone’s name, he’d ask them to clarify. “That’s not even difficult,” he said. “Just like, ‘What’s your name?’ If they say it and you can’t hear it, you ask them again. It’s not that complicated.”