#San Francisco hair salons reopen after Nancy Pelosi’s controversial visit

Hair salons and gyms in San Francisco will reopen next week after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s infamous visit to a shuttered salon for a blow-out earlier this month caused a political firestorm — and forced its owner to shut down.

Mayor London Breed on Friday announced the California city would move into the second phase of reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, permitting business to resume at barbershops, nail salons, massage parlors and indoor hair salons beginning Sept. 14.

It’s unclear if Pelosi’s controversial Aug. 31 visit to a hair salon that has been closed due to local coronavirus guidelines contributed to Breed’s decision to accelerate the timeline for reopening.

“I’m so glad we can move forward earlier than expected to reopen more businesses that have been closed since March,” Breed said in a statement.

“These businesses have been struggling, and starting Monday, they’ll finally be able to serve customers again, with the necessary safety precautions and modifications in place,” she continued.

But the decision comes too late for salon owner Erica Kious, who announced she was closing her business in San Francisco for good after a maskless Pelosi visited her salon for a wash and blow-out last week and accused Kious of setting her up when security footage of the visit leaked.

“I am actually done in San Francisco and closing my doors, unfortunately,” she told Fox News this week.

“I’m actually afraid to go back. It’s a little scary and sad,” she said. “I do have a lot of positive calls and text messages from clients. But other than that, nothing but negativity.”

Pelosi (D-Calif.) broke COVID-19 guidelines last month when she got her hair done at Kious’ eSalon SF in the city’s Pacific Heights neighborhood.

Video obtained by Fox News showed the powerful lawmaker strolling through the salon bare-faced with her wet hair slicked back, drawing charges of hypocrisy.

Hair salons and barbershops in Golden Gate City have been shuttered since March, and on the day of Pelosi’s blow-out, officials had only given the OK for outdoor service.

According to Kious, Pelosi’s assistant reached out to one of the salon’s independent stylists and asked if he could do the speaker’s hair.

Kious was furious when she found out, saying, “It was a slap in the face that she went in, you know, that she feels that she can just go and get her stuff done while no one else can go in, and I can’t work.”

But Pelosi insisted she had been “set up” and was the victim of an elaborate sting by the small business, insisting they apologize to her.

“I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I’ve been to many times,” she told reporters at an unrelated press briefing in San Francisco. “It was a set-up. I take responsibility for falling for a set-up.”

Kious denied the charges, and a GoFundMe page started to raise funds for the single mom of two’s relocation reached its $300,000 target.

Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill insisted she followed the rules laid out by the salon and dubiously claimed, “The speaker always wears a mask.”

“This business offered for the speaker to come in on Monday and told her they were allowed by the city to have one customer at a time in the business,” he said.