An elderly white woman was caught in a homophobic rant as she went on to accuse a lesbian couple of grooming children at a Florida Starbucks. The video of the woman, now dubbed as 'Starbucks Karen' has clocked in millions of views after it was uploaded by the couple.
'Karen' Racially Abused Asians Too
The video was originally posted on TikTok by one of the victims' Cassie Urry. Dressed in a lime green dress with matching flip flops the video shows someone asking the woman what was wrong with her to which she replies "Is lesbianism OK?" the woman asks. "No, it isn't because you touch children. You rape children. Yes, because you're evil," the woman adds further.
The racist woman then goes on to tell the couple that they don't know who she is. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself," the woman adds. She is finally seen leaving after the store's manager asks her to do so. Sharing the clip on TikTok, Urry wrote, "Interaction with this lovely lady in Miami."
Speaking with Daily Beast Urry said she along with her girlfriend, Lorrin Skrbec, had traveled from Toledo to Miami for a cruise to the Bahamas. The incident took place on March 6 as the couple stopped for a coffee break in Coral Gables.
"We saw [a] woman saying, like, a lot of racist things and a lot of racial slurs," Urry said. "There [were] Asian customers there. And she had said to them that they were creations of the devil, and that everybody in the Starbucks was sitting in the presence of the devil and not doing anything about it."
Victims Were Shocked
"We were both in shock a little bit. It was weird," she said. "I didn't quite know how to respond. I was feeling angry and feeling a lot of emotions, but I think just I knew realistically that escalating the situation wasn't going to get us anywhere. And you just can't reason with some people. So we just had to keep our cool."
The outlet further reported that in a statement a spokesperson for Starbucks said the company does not "tolerate any form of discrimination in [its] stores."
"We take a lot of pride in in creating a warm and welcoming environment, and we we expect both our...employees...as well as customers in our store to uphold those values," spokesperson Sam Jefferies said. "Obviously, when you've seen the video, the way that customer behaved was unacceptable, and she's no longer welcome in our store," the statement read further.
