Video of incident at Wilmington's Edward Teach Brewing fuels, and clouds, controversy

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include responses from Edward Teach Brewing's attorney.

A month since a viral Facebook post accused its owner of misconduct, controversy continues to flow from Wilmington's embattled Edward Teach Brewing.

The latest flashpoint was a short video that emerged over the weekend and appeared to show footage of a November incident involving a singer who was performing in the brewery, a friend of the singer and Edward Teach owner Gary Sholar.

A Dec. 29 Facebook post by the mother of the singer, who was not present during the incident, made multiple allegations against Sholar and led many people, and some businesses, to boycott the brewery and its previously near-ubiquitous products.

Sholar has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with any crimes.

In another development, Edward Teach was closed for at least part of last weekend after someone from the brewery filed a report with the Wilmington Police Department. Wilmington TV station WWAY reported that "signs (reading) 'closed due to bomb threat' were taped on the doors of the brewery" over the weekend.

According to a news release from the WPD, "The nature of the call dispatched was communicating threats. The officer spoke with a representative of the business and a police report was filed. This incident is under investigation."

On Friday evening, an 11-second video was posted to Facebook, the only post (so far) from a seemingly anonymous account named "Jeff Jeffington." The video serves not only to fuel the ongoing controversy but also to muddy the waters around what actually happened on the night of Nov. 16, 2023.

"Hey Gary Sholar," the post reads, "is this you verbally berating your customer like you said you didn’t do right before you threw a chair LIKE YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T DO?"

To be clear, Sholar and Edward Teach have previously released a statement saying that Sholar and the friend of a singer performing there "exchanged harsh words and expletives with each other." The video also does not show anyone throwing a chair, although it ends abruptly, and blurrily, with a loud noise and/or yell.

In the video, an agitated Sholar can be seen tapping a glass of beer on the bar, speaking to the singer and saying "this is my place" as the singer's friend moves between them. The singer then holds up her hand, walks away and says, "no, no," as Sholar continues to talk and the singer's friend points at Sholar and appears to call out for someone named "Noah." Sholar then says "get out, get out" and directs two expletives at someone, though it's not clear whether it's the singer or her friend, and the video ends.

In numerous Facebook comments on the video, which has been reshared more than 300 times, some commentors saw a vindication of the view that Sholar was the aggressor. Others pointed out that an 11-second video of what appears to have been an incident lasting a couple of minutes doesn't tell the whole story.

A statement previously released by Edward Teach Brewing and its attorney, Wilmington lawyer Thomas Varnum, said that "the singer was not involved in the exchange" with Sholar, although the video shows him speaking to her.

The statement also said that "the brewery’s owner made repeated attempts to separate himself from the singer’s friend," something not shown in the video. If anything, the video shows the singer's friend attempting to get between the singer and Sholar, although what happened before or after the 11 seconds captured on video currently remains undocumented.

"We have seen the video snippet that was posted on Facebook," Varnum said in a statement. "As we have stated from the beginning, harsh words were exchanged in the heat of the moment after an unruly customer instigated a confrontation (with) the owner on Nov. 16 and was told to leave as a result. The video fragment corroborates just that."

In an answer to emailed questions from the StarNews, Varnum said that "the main dispute occurred between the singer’s friend and the owner, not the singer. The video seems to show the singer standing close by at the time of the video, so we assume this depicts the very end of the confrontation after she stopped performing, but it shows the owner and the singer's friend doing most of the talking, as they had throughout the brief incident."

He maintains that "all personal accounts the brewery has heard (including by individuals unaffiliated with the brewery or the performer) confirm Gary did try repeatedly to distance himself from the singer's friend who instigated the confrontation and acted aggressively."

Varnum maintained that "the anonymous poster appears to have either delayed starting filming, or they selectively edited the video to exclude all the moments leading up to the few seconds shown in what was posted under what appears to be a fake name. The video is part of an ongoing, malicious effort to defame ETB's owner, destroy the business, and throw its more than 20 employees out of work."

The author of the original post accusing Sholar of misconduct has repeatedly declined to answer questions from the StarNews, and the musician who was performing when the alleged incident occurred has not responded to multiple emails seeking comment.

Although the names of the author of the Facebook post and the musician have been widely circulated on social media and even appeared in some media accounts, the StarNews has chosen not to identify them because they have not spoken with the media and the StarNews has not been able to verify the information in the original post with the musician.

"It is telling that the anonymous post follows the refusal of the singer, her friend and the singer's mother to grant any news interviews or speak with brewery representatives," Varnum said. "That's not an open, honest pursuit of the full truth of the brief Nov. 16 incident. It's an online smear campaign with an agenda that we cannot let go unchallenged."

The video, and the police report filed over the weekend, are just the latest twists in a story that has seen several sharp turns, captivating (and enraging) many Wilmingtonians in the process.

Previously, Edward Teach Brewery taproom manager Amy Cavasos has said "we've definitely seen a decline" in people visiting the brewery. "It's really hurting our employees."

Last week, Edward Teach filed a civil lawsuit against Erik Van Peterson, a former employee of Edward Teach who is now an employee at Wilmington's Flying Machine Brewing Co., seeking more than $25,000 in damages.

The lawsuit accuses Peterson of affixing labels containing QR codes to Edward Teach products at two Harris Teeter stores in Wilmington. The QR codes, the lawsuit says, linked to Facebook pages containing what the brewery says is defamatory statements about Sholar.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Video from Wilmington's Edward Teach Brewing adds fuel to controversy