Las Vegas leaders from various religious faiths called on Las Vegas Strip resort Mandalay Bay to remove statues of various Hindu and Jain deities from the Foundation Room night club.
The leaders, including Greek Orthodox Christian Priest Stephen Karcher, Buddhist Priest Matthew Fisher and Jewish Rabbu ElizaBeth Beyer, are calling the statues inappropriate and disrespectful.
The group wrote in a release that it “urged William Hornbuckle and Paul Salem, Acting CEO and Board Chairman respectively of MGM Resorts International, parent company of Mandalay Bay Casino, to offer a formal apology to Hindu and Jain communities for this insensitivity.”
The statues are of Hindu deities Lord Ganesha, Lord Shiva and others as well as Lord Mahavira of Jainism.
Jain leader Sulekh C. Jain suggested Mandalay Bay donate the Lord Mahavira statue to the group, transportation of which would be paid for by the Jain community.
The lounge, which is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, uses the statues and the general Hindu culture for its marketing and ambiance.
Its website uses the tagline “Karma never tasted so good,” and tagline for the venue is “Good Karma Awaits.”
Other marketing materials uses the symbols of reverence to advertise a festive spirit interested in “debauchery” and invites guests to “socialize, scandalize” in Las Vegas nightlife.
The call for the statues' removal comes amid others around the country for the removal of Confederate statues as well as other historical figures with pasts marked by racism and other prejudiced opinions and actions.
News 3 reached out to MGM Resorts for a statement but did not immediately receive a response.