NARINDER Kaur was dumped at the last minute from a McDonald’s VIP event after organisers were told she’s Sikh.
The broadcaster, 53, had her place fully confirmed, with plus-ones for her children, for the fast-food giant’s “Secret Menu” VIP launch in London on Friday.
But after her agent flagged a dietary requirement and explained that Narinder and her children are Sikh so avoid beef for religious reasons, the Jeremy Vine panellist’s invite was suddenly pulled, blamed on “capacity issues”.
Narinder had been due to attend alongside celebrity fashion designer Josh Birch Jones, whose clients include Dannii Minogue, Vanessa Williams and Helen Flanagan, and his invite remained untouched.
A source said: “They were chasing Narinder to come, locking her time slot in and confirming everything. Then the second they were told she’s Sikh, she was dropped. That’s the only thing that changed.
“If capacity really was an issue, why didn’t the company ask Narinder and Josh’s agent if one could step down? Why wasn’t an alternative slot offered? Instead, the Sikh guest was removed outright.”
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McDonald’s Secret Menu offers “never-before-seen” menu hacks and the party was due to include a DJ set and drinks as well as a taste of the dishes.
A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “We strongly refute that we would ever make a decision about hosting someone based on religion, or any other characteristic.
“We hold events like this regularly, introducing exciting new products to brand fans from all backgrounds, reflecting the incredibly diverse customer base and employees we are so proud of.
“We sincerely apologise to Narinder for the mistake made around her invite to the event.
“We have reached out to assure her that this mistake was unintentional – and that we regularly welcome people who don’t eat beef to events, to enjoy the variety of other products we provide”.
A pal close to Narinder told The Sun how the decision hit particularly hard because Narinder rarely brings her children to industry events, adding: “Narinder never brings her kids to work things, they were genuinely excited. They were going to do something fun together and suddenly they were excluded.”
The pal added the timing made it even more painful, coming just days after Narinder spoke publicly about the impact of non-consensual AI ‘Grok’ images that had been made of her.
They said: “She’s had a really tough time lately after being humiliated by those images. This was meant to be something positive, a bit of joy with her kids after everything she’s been through. Instead, it turned into another knock.”
