In August 2025, as U.S. Vice President JD Vance vacationed in the United Kingdom with his family, a claim (archived) spread online that a British pub turned the vice president away after staff threatened to quit rather than serve him. The alleged incident followed reports of protests against Vance's visit to the Cotswolds, a picturesque area of England.
One Threads user wrote, "JD Vance attempted to dine at a pub in the UK and the staff threatened to no-show at work if they accepted the reservation, so he was rejected Love that for him."
The claim also circulated on Facebook (archived), X (archived), Bluesky (archived), Reddit (archived) and TikTok (archived). Snopes readers wrote in asking whether the claim was true.
The claim originated in a submission-based newsletter called Popb**** that described itself as "filled with scandal, insight and insider info." According to that newsletter (archived), staff at The Bull, a restaurant and pub in Charlbury, England, "all said they wouldn't come to work if they had to serve Vance and his wife. Facing staff grumbles and a barrage of negative press attention The Bull refused his patronage."
However, aside from the newsletter and reporting that cited it, we found no evidence that staff at The Bull refused to work if they were serving Vance and his wife, Usha Vance. Calls to The Bull for confirmation went unanswered on Aug. 15. Snopes reached out to The Public Group, which owns The Bull, to confirm the alleged incident and await a reply.
Snopes also reached out to pub employees, Popb**** and Vance's office about the claim and await replies to our queries.
Several news outlets in the U.S. and the U.K. picked up Popb****'s claim. In the U.K., the Daily Mail, one of the country's biggest tabloid newspapers, cited two local residents who believed the claim to be true, though neither could confirm it outright.
Aside from the rumored snub at The Bull, other demonstrations marred Vance's U.K. holiday. Snopes previously reported that protesters blocked Vance's motorcade in Sevenoaks. Other forms of protest met the vice president in the Cotswolds, including a van featuring a popular meme a picture of Vance edited to appear bald and overweight.
Ahead of the second family's arrival in the Cotswolds, the owner of the manor house they had rented reportedly sent out messages to neighbors apologizing for the "JD Vance circus."
Vance's predecessor Kamala Harris reportedly dined at The Bull in July as part of wedding celebrations for Apple heiress Eve Jobs.