Brooke Shields battles South Park creators for restaurant workers

Brooke Shields has helped unionize around 80 workers employed at Casa Bonita, an iconic establishment owned by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. 

Shields, who serves as Actors’ Equity ᴀssociation president, told CNN Business she performed an ‘ambush’ at the venue back in March, arriving unannounced after hearing complaints from employees.

‘You try doing things respectfully, and then you’re not met with equal respect… so you have to resort to other tactics,’ the Suddenly Susan actress said. 

Casa Bonita is a beloved Mexican-themed restaurant and immersive entertainment venue that first opened back in the 1970s, and serves up to 3,500 patrons per day. 

The theme-park-like establishment was bought by Stone and Parker in 2021, saving it from the brink of bankruptcy. 

It features an indoor waterfall, a maze-like cave and puppet shows. In addition to cooks, hosts and servers, it employs puppeteers and cliff divers. 

Actors’ Equity president Brooke Shields (3-R, pictured March 27) helped unionize around 80 workers employed at Casa Bonita – a Mexican-themed restaurant in Lakewood, Colorado – acquired by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone in 2021

The 61-year-old former child star claimed the Emmy-winning showrunners (pictured June 7), aged 55 and 56, have not attended one of the 14 bargaining sessions with Actors’ Equity

The costumed characters, puppeteers, magicians and cliff divers are demanding $10 increase on their $26/per hour pay and a safer workplace including the 12.5ft-deep pool which allegedly caused hypothermia and chlorine toxicity

Actors’ Equity ᴀssociation have filed seven labor complaints with the National Labor Relations Board against Casa Bonita management, accusing them of ‘engaging in a pattern of serious unfair labor practices.’

Daily Mail has obtained the claim letters, which detailed how AEA staged an ‘unfair labor practices strike’ between October 30 and November 1 of last year after management ‘cut all shifts for three roaming character positions.’

In November, management allegedly retaliated by discharging veteran employees who protested and then gave preferential treatment, including better pay and shifts, to newly hired employees, per the complaints. 

Brooke Shields reveals secret to her 25-year marriage

In December, one of AEA’s negotiating team members was allegedly not allowed to work light duty nor file for worker’s compensation after a workplace injury.

Unionized staff claimed they received ‘baseless disciplinary actions for purported attendance policy violations’ and said management ‘created many scheduling problems’ leading to more discharges.

The costumed characters, puppeteers, magicians and cliff divers are demanding $10 increase on their $26/per hour pay and a safer workplace including the 12.5ft-deep pool which allegedly caused hypothermia and chlorine toxicity.

‘It’s just silence, radio silence,’ Shields alleged. ‘It’s just so disheartening because they’re putting their lives at risk, and they’re not being looked after.’

There’s also said to be no emergency action plan, no security for performers who have alleged being groped by patrons, and no active shooter policy. 

Actors’ Equity ᴀssociation have filed seven labor complaints with the National Labor Relations Board against Casa Bonita (pictured in 2023) management for ‘engaging in a pattern of serious unfair labor practices’ 

Parker and Stone showcased their real-life childhood memories of Casa Bonita in a 2003 episode of their Comedy Central cartoon where Cartman is on the hunt for the honey-glazed sopaipillas

Shields ‘ambushed’ the ‘Disneyland of Mexican restaurants’ on March 27 by hand delivering a letter to management asking for better wages

Of her visit to Casa Bonita in March, Shields said:  

‘It doesn’t take long to feel how disparaging it is when you visit a place and you see young people excited to perform at the top of their game doing these crazy stunts, or entertaining people…[and] you go personally see them not being cared for,’ Shields said.

‘I’ve been on Broadway enough to know that it’s the ensemble, it’s the people that are there day in and day out … that are really sort of the backbone of what we do.’

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Casa Bonita management said: ‘At Casa Bonita, we value all of our team members and their well-being. As a policy we do not comment on ongoing labor negotiations.’

Daily Mail has reached out to Shields, Parker and Stone’s reps for comment, but has not yet hard back.

The South Park creators grew up in Colorado and loved visiting Casa Bonita when they were children. 

Shields has likely never forgotten how the Tony-winning funnymen joked about her flatulence in their critically-acclaimed big-screen musical South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, which amᴀssed $83.1 million at the box office in 1999

The duo told Jimmy Kimmel Live! in May that they bought the bankrupt establishment for $7-8 million in 2021, but extensive renovations made the cost balloon to $50 million before the 2023 grand reopening.

Parker and Stone showcased their real-life childhood memories of Casa Bonita in a 2003 episode of their Comedy Central cartoon where Cartman is on the hunt for the honey-glazed sopaipillas.

Shields has likely never forgotten how the Tony-winning funnymen joked about her flatulence in their critically-acclaimed big-screen musical South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, which amᴀssed $83.1 million at the box office in 1999.

On May 28, Acorn TV renewed Robin Bernheim’s murder mystery You’re Killing Me for a second season, so the two-time Golden Globe nominee will return as bestselling novelist Allison Chandler and executive producer.

Shields also replaced Ginger Zee as host of the eighth season of first responder series Hearts of Heroes, which premieres July 11 on ABC stations.