Viral video shows ‘Homophobe Karen’ freaking out at a lesbian couple in Starbucks

Rick Schindler

A Starbucks customer has gone viral for homophobic abuse and accusing a lesbian couple of childcare at a Florida coffee shop, prompting staff and other diners to condemn the hateful speech.

The chilling clip gained massive traction on TikTok after being posted by Cassie Urry on Sunday, racking up nearly 7 million views as of Tuesday.

In an interview with The Daily Beast, Urry said that she and friend Lorrin Skrbec traveled from Toledo to Miami for a cruise to the Bahamas. Before boarding on March 6, the couple stopped at a Starbucks in Coral Gables. Urry said the surroundings of the store “didn’t feel,” and it took her a little to realize that everyone in the cafe was staring at a customer.

“We saw [a] Woman saying a lot of racist things and a lot of racial slurs,” Urry said. “There [were] Asian customers there. And she had told them that they were the devil’s creations and that everyone in Starbucks was sitting in the presence of the devil and didn’t do anything about it.”

Urry said the woman, who has not been identified, then began spitting out anti-Asian sentiments related to COVID-19. At this point, Skrbec intervened verbally and Urry decided to pull out her phone and start recording.

In the video, titled “Karen in the wild,” the blonde woman – who wears glasses and a lime green dress – stares in the direction of the camera.

“Is lesbianism okay?” asks the woman. “No, not because you touch children. They rape children. Yes, because you are evil.”

Employees and customers behind the woman are closing in and denouncing her wild allegations. But the woman doesn’t move. She continues to taunt the couple for taking her in, then jokes that they don’t know who she is.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” says the woman.

The clip ends after the store manager confronts the woman and takes her aside.

Urry, 22, said she and her friend were surprised by the incident.

“We were both a bit shocked. It was weird,” she said. “I didn’t really know how to react. I was angry and had a lot of emotions, but I think I realistically knew that escalating the situation wasn’t going to get us anywhere. And some people just can’t be reasoned with. We just had to stay cool.”

Urry added that Starbucks employees checked on them after their interaction with the woman.

A Starbucks spokesman said the company “does not tolerate any form of discrimination in [its] stores.”

“We take great pride in creating a warm and welcoming environment, and we expect both our…employees…and the customers in our store to uphold those values,” said spokesman Sam Jefferies. “After watching the video, this customer’s behavior was clearly unacceptable and she is no longer welcome in our store.”

Luckily, the couple was still able to enjoy their cruise to the Bahamas.

“We didn’t really want to think about it [the incident] or take care of it while we were on vacation,” Urry said. “We just had to forget it for now and enjoy our journey and focus on each other.”

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