West Michigan Spa Owner Apologizes To Boy With Autism

After a week filled with backlash, including a Facebook page with nearly 9,000 likes encouraging people to boycott her salon, M-Spa owner Michelle Mott has issued an apology to the family and the autistic boy who she allegedly berated in her salon on a Saturday afternoon because the boy was crying during his haircut.

This is the first time that Mott has apologized since the incident on Saturday, May 25th. Another patron of the salon posted about the incident on Facebook, and the post went viral, receiving over 35,000 shares, and causing a lot of backlash against the salon.

Mott released this statement today:

To say that the last few days at M-Spa have been challenging is an understatement. We are all aware of the significant attention given to a Facebook posting regarding a recent haircut for one of our spa’s youngest customers. Social media has been used to create an impression of me and this event in ways which do not fairly reflect who I am and which seek to silence differing viewpoints about what occurred. While this is very unfortunate, I am not going to review those differences here.

Rather, I want to say that my actions were not intended to create any hardship or embarrassment for little Grayson or his parents.  And while I believed that Grayson’s parents understood that, when Mrs. Bays stayed for her highlight and cut at our spa right after Grayson had left with his father, I want to reassure the Bays family of this point. I apologize to Grayson and the Bays for any embarrassment or hardship that they have experienced by my actions.

We look forward to better days ahead and we will continue to strive to be the best spa in southwest Michigan.  To those who have voiced displeasure with me or with my spa over this incident, I will work hard to regain your faith in our services. To those who have indicated that my business should be boycotted, I would ask only that you consider the impact of such a boycott upon the many families who derive some portion or all of their livelihood from our spa. To those who have withheld judgment or have voiced support over the last few days, including my treasured customers and employees, I extend my heartfelt appreciation.

[WOOD-TV8]