GoFundMe for Owner of Nancy Pelosi's Hair Salon Tops $150,000

A fundraising page for the owner of a San Francisco hair salon at the center of controversy regarding an appointment by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has raised over $150,000.

Erica Kious, owner of eSalon, has been forced to deny claims of a setup after she released surveillance footage showing Pelosi getting her hair done at her Cow Hollow salon on Monday.

Kious also claims she has received death threats after releasing surveillance footage showing Pelosi walking around the salon without a mask, despite San Francisco hair salons being closed for indoor appointments due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Salons in San Francisco were permitted to reopen for outdoors use one day after Pelosi's visit, but face masks are still required.

In the wake of the furor from both sides, a GoFundMe page was set up for Kious, claiming she is now being "forced to shut down and relocate her business and family due to outrage and threats she is receiving."

The page description adds: "At the conclusion of this fundraiser, ALL donations will go directly to Erica to pay off any debts from the business that she is forced to shut down, expenses to relocate and reopen in a new location."

At the time of publication, the GoFundMe page has managed to raise more than $150,000.

Elsewhere, Kious has once again denied that she set up Pelosi by releasing the footage of her in the salon.

Kious claims that independent stylist Jonathan DeNardo, who rents a chair from her, was responsible for the appointment.

Kious said she decided to release the footage after realizing the customer was Pelosi and that she was not wearing her mask.

In a statement, Kious said she believed Pelosi was acting hypocritically by attending salon appointments when others were not allowed to do so, and denied her motive was political.

"The point of releasing this video was, and is, if a woman in a high-risk age group who spends much of her time on TV warning about the dangers of COVID-19, feels safe and comfortable in a San Francisco salon, and can be responsible for being cautious and mindful, why can't the rest of San Francisco and the rest of America do that too?" Kious said.

Kious also described Pelosi's assertion that she is a victim in all this as "false and outrageous."

"For Speaker Pelosi to frame herself as a victim under a total false narrative while small businesses and workers all over California, the state she represents, suffer and struggle just to survive is beyond shameful," Kious said.

In a statement, attorney Matthew Soleimanpour, who is representing DeNardo, contradicted Kious' versions of events, claiming she had a "special interest" in Pelosi's appointment and made several "vitriolic and incendiary comments" about the House Speaker while speaking to DeNardo about it.

"Ultimately, Ms. Kious authorized Mr. DeNardo to proceed with Speaker Pelosi's appointment," the statement added.

DeNardo also claimed that Kious had been operating her business during the stay-at-home orders and similar executive orders since as far back as April.