LivingSocial Apologizes for Decorating “Greed Room” With Dreidels

Some untactful decorating gave LivingSocial’s “7 Deadly Sins” party last Saturday an eighth offense—perceived anti-Semitism. Partygoers who attended the ticketed Halloween event said the decorations in the “greed room” included dreidels, four-sided tops used during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.

“I was very offended. I just thought it was completely inappropriate,” one attendee told Washington Jewish Week.

LivingSocial, the DC-based online coupon and events company, converted its storefront at 918 F St., Northwest, into a “night of tricks—and sins” with themed rooms for each of the cardinal vices. Advertising for the event, which drew 643 people paying $59 or $79, billed the “greed room” as a “shimmering room full of silver and gold” along with games and a cocktail named after King Midas.

But the sight of a Jewish token in a room festooned for avarice struck the anonymous partygoer as “clearly anti-Semitic.”

LivingSocial has been quick to apologize for the dreidels. “We do not condone prejudice, nor do we tolerate inappropriate or hurtful behavior of any sort,” company spokesman Kevin Nolan writes in an email. “What happened at the event does not reflect who we are as a company and we are deeply apologetic.”

The company is offering refunds to anyone who attended the bash.

Benjamin Freed

Staff Writer

Benjamin Freed joined Washingtonian in August 2013 and covers politics, business, and media. He was previously the editor of DCist and has also written for Washington City Paper, the New York Times, the New Republic, Slate, and BuzzFeed. He lives in Adams Morgan.