Nancy Pelosi's stylist says San Francisco salon owner set up speaker 'for her own vain aspirations'

Nancy Pelosi's hair stylist released a statement backing up Pelosi's claims that the house speaker was set up by the San Francisco salon where she was caught on camera getting her hair shampooed and blown dry.

A law firm representing Jonathan DeNardo said the stylist got permission from Erica Kious, the owner of eSalon on Union Street, in a phone discussion prior to Pelosi's appointment.

"Ms. Kious took special interest in the appointment during this telephone call, wherein she made several vitriolic and incendiary comments about Speaker Pelosi and her purported responsibility for temporarily suspending operations of Ms. Kious' business, despite such orders actually being put into place not by Speaker Pelosi, but by Governor Gavin Newsom and San Francisco Mayor London Breed," a statement released by the firm and posted on Politico said.

On Monday, Pelosi visited the salon, which has been closed due to a health order, and footage from her appointment -- showing her with wet hair and a mask around her neck -- later appeared on Fox News. Kious told the network she was offended by the House Speaker's visit to her businesses.

"It was a slap in the face that she went in, you know, that she feels that she can just go and get her stuff done while no one else can go in, and I can't work," Kious said. "We have been shut down for so long, not just me, but most of the small businesses and I just can't -- it's a feeling -- a feeling of being deflated, helpless and honestly beaten down."

Pelosi told reporters at an event in Noe Valley on Wednesday that she was "set up."

"I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I've been to over the years many times," the Speaker said. "And that when they said, 'We're able to accommodate people one person at a time, and that we can set up a time,' I trusted that. As it turns out, it was a set up, and I take responsibility for falling for a set up."

She added, "I think that this salon owes me an apology, for setting me up."

Pelosi did not acknowledge that the arrangement she described is still a violation of the city's health order, as hair salons in the city are not allowed to serve anyone indoors, even one at a time.

Kious denied it was a setup in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Fox News Wednesday night and said her decision to give the network the video wasn't political.

"Her assistant had made the appointment, so the appointment was already booked, so there was no way I could have set that up," Kious said.

"And I've had a camera system in there for five years. I mean I didn't go in there and turn cameras on as soon as she walked in to set her up."

DeNardo's statement said Kious has encouraged stylists for months to operate despite shutdown orders.

"Ms. Kious is seen on photographs and video footage styling various clients' hair, ignoring social distancing guidelines, and not wearing protective equipment (masks), as recently as a few days prior to Speaker Pelosi's arrival at eSalon on August 31, 2020," the statement said.

The statement concludes, "The fact that Ms. Kious is now objecting to Speaker Pelosi's presence at eSalon, and from a simple surface-level review of Ms. Kious' political leanings, it appears Ms. Kious is furthering a setup of Speaker Pelosi for her own vain aspirations."

San Francisco Mayor London Breed came to Pelosi's defense.

"It's really unfortunate with everything happening in this country, with the fact that we basically have a dictator in charge of running this country," Breed said Wednesday of the attention Pelosi's visit has received. "And we have our Speaker Nancy Pelosi working day and night to fight against the challenges against the White House -- she has spent her entire career working for this city and working for this country -- it's unfortunate that this conversation has blown up in the way that it has and distracted from the real issue. We don't have good solid federal leadership helping us facilitate this COVID response ... We have bigger issues as it relates to this country."

President Donald Trump called out the incident on Twitter, writing "Crazy Nancy Pelosi is being decimated for having a beauty parlor opened, when all others are closed, and for not wearing a Mask -- despite constantly lecturing everyone else."

SFGATE reporter Eric Ting contributed to this story. Amy Graff is the news editor for SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.