Backlash Erupts Over Bon Jovi’s Charitable Move, Sparking Tension with Disgraced New Jersey Mayor
Rock legend Jon Bon Jovi has learned that no good deed goes unpunished as his JBJ Soul Kitchen comes under fire for helping those most in need.
The pop-up cafe located in his home state of New Jersey has been providing free meals to unhoused individuals since February at a downtown location and the Ocean County Library in the township of Towns River.
The nonprofit initiative was launched in 2011 but only expanded into Towns River in 2016. It is run by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and his wife, Dorothea.
Patronizers who have the means to cover their meals are encouraged to pay it forward for someone less fortunate at the cost of $12. The operation runs Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Its growing popularity, however, has struck a nerve with Mayor Daniel Rodrick. He claims that numerous complaints of unhoused people occupying benches and the area surrounding the library have created unease among his constituents.
“We don’t want to be ground zero for homelessness. We don’t want to be a dumping ground for the homeless problem in the state of New Jersey. The state of New Jersey needs to step up and take care of this problem,” he told Fox News, per The Daily Mail.
The educator was elected in 2023. The following year, 2024, Rodrick was indefinitely suspended amid an investigation into student complaints.
His criticism extends to county leaders, too. The library commission and Ocean County Commissioners Board both approved the lease for JBJ Soul Kitchen’s newest location. The contract expires on May 23.
Rodrick said that organizations busing in the unhoused have driven up the need for emergency resources that taxpayers pay for.
He told the New York Post, “These people are being dropped by in our community by agencies pretending to be homeless advocates who get paid by the head to import homeless people into our town from all over the state and the East Coast.”
The official further claimed, “These agencies are making millions of dollars importing homeless. Their plan is not about compassion; it’s about people wanting to profit off the homeless issue.” Jovi and Dorothea’s response to the scathing accusations was released in a formal statement on April 4.
It read, in part, “The JBJ Soul Foundation and JBJ Soul Kitchen are committed to ending homelessness through real solutions. We are not here to just move people around or force them into the shadows. Our Foundation has built nearly a thousand units of affordable and supportive housing.”
The pair also stated, “We are unsure where the mayor thinks millions of dollars are trading hands, but we are completely unaware of any such programs and receive no such funding,” as they invited people to “the BEAT Center in Toms River or to the JBJ Soul Kitchen Pop-Up to see what we are doing to end homelessness and hunger in our community.”
Public reactions include “Another good idea gone bad” and “I think Bon Jovi has his heart in the right place but his ‘kitchen’ in the Library, is in the wrong place.”
A third perspective read, “The state of NJ needs to do a better job regarding the homeless and stop blaming the problems on Bon Jovi. Yes you are just using him as a scapegoat! We all know your mission is only to attract those with money. It’s called Karma!!!”
And a fourth stated, “This is a real shame. The restaurant brings people together from many different walks of life.”
