Texas woman says she was kicked out of Aritzia for talking about religion with another customer: ‘First off, why are they eavesdropping?’

A Texas woman is claiming that Aritzia employees asked her to leave the store over a conversation about church recommendations.

In a TikTok video, which has garnered over 107,100 views, TikTok creator Emma (@emmaksantos._) said she had what she called the “worst experience” at the Aritzia Domain location in Austin.

What Went Wrong At the Aritzia Store?

“OK, I had the worst experience at the Aritzia Domain location in Austin yesterday,” she says at the start of the video.

According to the creator, the incident happened while she was shopping near the end of the day. She says she was looking for new clothes and had already gathered a pile of items, though she was not planning to try anything on.

“I didn’t really care, but nobody came up to me,” she says, adding that Aritzia employees usually offer to take items to a dressing room.

Eventually, she says an employee did come up and offer to take her clothes to the front.

“Finally someone came up to me,” she says. “I was like, perfect, OK, whatever.”

Then Aritzia Asked Her to Leave

After she checked out, the creator says she walked over to her sister, who was wearing a T-shirt with a Bible verse on it.

According to the creator, another customer wearing a Jesus shirt approached her sister and complimented the shirt. From there, the two started talking.

“He was just giving her church recommendations in Austin,” she says.

The creator says the conversation was not hostile toward anyone else.

“They weren’t bashing any other religion or they weren’t doing anything disrespectful,” she says. “They were just having a conversation about what church to go to.”

But while the conversation was happening, the creator says she noticed two employees talking and looking over at them.

“I see these two workers talking, giving them dirty looks,” she says. “And I was like, what the heck?”

Then, according to the creator, one employee approached her sister and the other customer.

“Hey… love what you’re doing… but we’re just gonna have to ask you to leave,” the creator recalls the employee saying. “Because you’re not allowed to have religious conversations in this area. We just want the vibe to be better.”

The creator says she was shocked by the request.

“My mouth was dropping,” she says. “I was like, no way this girl just came up to us and said you can’t talk about religion.”

She Says the Conversation Wasn’t Disrespectful

The creator says the employee framed the issue as a concern over making other shoppers uncomfortable.

“She was like, well, we just don’t want you to be disrespectful,” the creator says. “There might be people here of other religions or who don’t believe in whatever you believe in.”

The creator says the man her sister had been talking to pushed back.

“We’re just talking about Jesus,” she recalls him saying. “We’re not being disrespectful. We live in a free country.”

The creator says she also told the employee the request was rude.

“That is a very rude thing to say to someone,” she says. “You can’t kick someone out because you’re not allowed to talk.”

The creator then questioned whether anyone had ever heard of a store banning religious conversations between customers.

“Has anyone ever heard, you’re not allowed to talk about religion in any store?” she asks. “That’s so weird.”

Aritzia Responded in the Comments

The creator says she reached out to Aritzia customer support after the incident because she was “very put off” by what happened. However, she says the chat ended prematurely.

“I don’t think anybody should be approached and say, you’re not allowed to talk about X, Y, and Z in a store,” she says. “I just think that’s very weird.”

Aritzia later responded in the comments section of the video.

“Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Emma,” the company wrote. “We’ve reached out directly and would appreciate the opportunity to connect.”

The Mary Sue could not find a public Aritzia rule that says shoppers are not allowed to talk about religion inside stores

Other Aritzia Customers Have Complained About Staff

The Austin shopper is not the only person online to complain about the way Aritzia employees treat customers.

In one Reddit post, a shopper said they asked an employee to check whether a shirt was available in another size, since the website showed it was in stock at that store. According to the poster, the employee refused to properly check, argued with them, and rolled her eyes.

“I was treated like scum today by an employee for the first time,” the Redditor wrote.

In another post, a customer described their local Aritzia as “beyond toxic,” claiming staff members had made rude comments about sizing, money, and whether shoppers belonged in the store. In one alleged interaction, the poster said an employee took a stained sale item out of their hands and told them, “maybe when you have the money in your bank account you can have it.”

Another Redditor had the opposite complaint, saying Aritzia employees would not leave them alone while they shopped. The user said workers repeatedly asked whether they were ready to pay or use a fitting room, even after they had already been approached.

“I avoid going to aritzia because the employees never leave me alone,” they wrote.

Viewers Reacted

In the comments, viewers were also confused by the alleged interaction.

“So I think this might be illegal,” one commenter wrote.

Another said the creator should file a complaint.

“They are violating your freedom of speech. I would file complaint,” they wrote.

Others focused on Aritzia more generally.

“I went there once, looked at everything being 100% polyester and $200, and left,” one user said.

@emmaksantos._ Very off putting @Aritzia #freedomofspeech #thedomainatx #aritziaatx ♬ original sound – emabemma

The Mary Sue has reached out to Aritzia and Emma via email for comment.

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