10 Times People Got Revenge on Karens

10 Times People Got Revenge on Karens

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re examining 10 Times People Got Revenge on Karens.

For this list, we’ll be looking at infamous moments where entitled, horrendous, and belligerent folks got their comeuppance outside the criminal justice system, instead receiving justice in another, sometimes juicier, form. We won’t be limiting the list by gender (including “Kens” as well as “Karens”) and even including an entire organization in one case.

Have you met a Karen - or Ken - in the wild? Let us know the tale below!

Not Batman's Robin

In October 2022 stylist Sharon Spellman was working on client Robin’s hair when a problem arose. Spellman’s assistant, Alex, was meant to finish up the work Spellman had started on the customer’s hair. However, Robin wasn’t having that, seemingly because Alex is a Latina, and Robin's had issues with other Latinx staff in the past. Spellman admonished Robin over her attitude. As Robin got more and more disrespectful with her language, Spellman sat down to tell her off like she was a child having a tantrum. This didn’t work, as Robin attempted to hit the stylist. So Robin was booted from the salon with her coloring not finished. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Bristol Bus Boycott

After World War Two, thousands of people from the Caribbean, many of whom served in the British military, moved to the UK. Around 3,000 were in Bristol by the 60s. Instead of getting the respect they deserved, the Bristol Omnibus Company decided to operate the “color bar,” which only allowed white people to be employed. In 1963, Roy Hackett, Owen Henry, Audley Evans, and Prince Brown formed the West Indian Development Council. With Paul Stephenson as spokesperson, this group helped to organize a mass boycott of the company's buses throughout Bristol that lasted for four months. By the end, the Bristol Omnibus Company reversed its racist policy and began hiring Black and Asian people.

Farmer Karen

Most people enjoy getting freebies. But apparently, if a freebie supports the LGBTQ+ community, then some get really bonkers about it. In 2020, Dan Floyd was at the Livermore Farmers' Market in California, handing out flags at his Dan Good Cookies booth during Pride Month. Not on Gail Hayden’s watch! Running the California Farmers' Market Association that operates this exchange, she berated Floyd about giving out the Pride flags, disrespectfully calling it a “political point of view.” Even though Hayden tried to backtrack her words later, the damage was done. It caused the CFMA to resign as the management of the Livermore Farmers' Market.

Postmates Karen

In 2020, all Jordan Gipson wanted to do was deliver a food order for Postmates, covering his mom’s job. But standing in his way was a gatekeeping, unmasked woman. Trying to get into an apartment building in Westwood, Los Angeles, the woman refused to allow him to enter, saying, “I don’t want you here,” with a look of disgust on her face. There was seemingly a racial reason she was so adamant against Gipson being there. It got weirder when she realized she was being filmed and made a barrage of bizarre faces…for some reason. After the incident went viral, a GoFundMe campaign was set up for Gipson. At the time of writing, it’s currently at $9,677.

Delivering Racism

Instead of a delivery person being on the receiving end of racism, this time the roles are reversed! In 2023, Karla De La Torre, also known as Karleshion, released a video of her interaction with a FedEx employee. The staff member was delivering packages to her house and asked for help. When De La Torre responded in Spanish, the worker erupted. She begins mocking the language before telling them to go back to their country…yikes. Afterward, the employee posted her side of the story under the name “annessa222” and also apologized for her racist outburst. However, FedEx wasn’t happy bunnies. They publicly fired the unnamed woman for her racist tirade.

Lawsuit Club

The Jue Lan Club in New York City is a popular bar and Chinese restaurant for famous faces. Celebs like 50 Cent and Travis Scott have been spotted there. But in November 2022, an ex-employee of the club sued the CFO, Naiome Ram, for assault, battery, and unpaid wages. In leaked audio, Ram and manager Annya Argwello took Jose Luis Toxqui and another employee into her office and went on a massive rant. She accused Toxqui of stealing recipes and giving out free drinks, all while verbally abusing and threatening him. Ram even threw in racial slurs and threatened to mess him up with immigration. Toxqui claims that Ram also punched him repeatedly in the 20-minute altercation before she fired him.

Buffalo Bigot

In May 2022, Katelynn Bolden, Brandon Hawkins, and Erica Seymour were part of the Behavioral Health Team for the Buffalo Police, which specialized in cases with mental health incidents. The trio watched a video of a black police officer being pulled over by a white officer, highlighting racial profiling, before showing the clip to their captain, Amber Beyer. She reportedly launched into a racially-charged 20-minute rant slating black people. Citing other incidents of her racism, including claims she repeatedly used grim slurs, the three spoke to Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia, who removed her from managing the department. Then, in December 2022, the trio initiated a $15 million lawsuit against Beyer, who was quickly suspended from her role.

Rich Racist

Even bucket-loads of money and fame can’t stop you from becoming a Karen, as Donald Sterling found out in 2014. The owner of the Los Angeles Clippers was recorded going off on a racist tirade about his mistress V. Stiviano being photographed with basketball legend Magic Johnson. The backlash was massive. The NBA banned Sterling from being an owner for life and fined him $2.5 million. As Steve Ballmer stepped forward to buy the franchise, Sterling flip-flopped on the sale and threatened to sue the NBA. This sparked his estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, to take him to court, claiming he was mentally incapacitated, so she could push through the $2 billion sale. And she won. Delightful.

Starbucks Karen

The pandemic certainly gave us a host of Karen content. In 2020, Amber Lynn Gilles went into a Starbucks in San Diego and was refused service since she was maskless. The anti-vaxxer took a photograph of server Lenin Gutierrez to publicly shame him on social media. Well, it backfired…massively! Matt Cowan created a GoFundMe for the employee. At the time of writing, it has a whopping $105,445! Gutierrez planned to use the cash to study dance. However, Gilles was livid. With a history of issuing lawsuits, she gave one to Cowan and his company for defamation. She was looking for an unspecified amount of cash. In response, Cowan set up a GoFundMe for legal fees that's currently brought in $56,425.

Texas Tirade

One common factor of Karens is making sure everyone knows their vile thoughts, even if no one requested them. In August 2022, four Indian-American women were going to their cars after being at a restaurant in Plano, Texas. But then Esmerelda Upton came out of the shadows and decided she was going to go on a racist rant. Fearing for their safety, the women filmed Upton’s outburst. She told the four how much she hated Indians, issued threats of violence, and assaulted them. It was bonkers. On top of being arrested on several charges, Upton also had to contend with not one but two lawsuits from her victims.