10 Karens Who Went Crazy on Thanksgiving

#10: Terrible Thanksgiving Teacher Tirade

In 2019, a substitute teacher at Deerfield Elementary School in Cedar Hills, Utah, decided to ask the class what they were thankful for. It should’ve been a nice, wholesome moment. Instead, the educator took the opportunity to teach the kids about her bigotry. One child, Daniel, a son of “Dancing with the Stars” performer Louis van Amstel, spoke about being thankful for being adopted by his two dads. This sparked the Karen teacher to go on a homophobic rant, which, astonishingly, lasted for ten gruelling minutes, despite protests from students. Students then went to the school's principal to issue a complaint against the Karen. Kelly Services, which provided teachers in the school district, confirmed that the terrible teacher was fired.

#9: Karen Hut

Service staff have it rough. Not only do they not make anywhere near enough money that they deserve, they might also be forced to work their job on a holiday. Well, in 2013, Tony Rohr took a stand against Pizza Hut. After spending ten years working his way up the ladder to manager at a franchise in Elkhart, Indiana, he refused to open the restaurant on Thanksgiving. Instead, his bosses asked him to sign a resignation letter. In response, Rohr wrote a letter outlining his stance and denying this was him resigning. So, Rohr was fired. The backlash to Pizza Hut treating this cult hero this way was massive, resulting in the company offering Rohr his job back. However, he rejected it for new opportunities.

#8: Nap to Attack

Many people can relate to Jacklyn Blake’s tale. After having too much to drink at her home in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Thanksgiving in 2014, she went to have a nap. Then, when she woke up, Blake discovered that her boyfriend had begun eating dinner without her. Here’s where people stop being able to relate to her. Blake, filled with post-sleep rage, attacked her partner, even grabbing a knife. She managed to stab him in the chest and threw the blade at him, striking him just below the eye. Thankfully, with non-life-threatening injuries, the boyfriend was okay after hospital treatment. Blake, on the other hand, was arrested and charged with the unhinged attack.

#7: One Million Karens

For many, it’s not Thanksgiving unless the Macy’s annual parade happens. However, in 2023, the right-wing collective One Million Moms attempted to ruin the holiday for millions of people. The anti-LGBTQIA+ group was frothing at the mouth at the idea that a couple of non-binary actors were set to feature in the event. As such, they created a petition to boycott the parade, describing it as “the non-binary and transgender extravaganza,” which sounds amazing. Ironically, despite being promoted by One Million Moms, the petition only got around 40,000 signatures. On top of that, the boycott had no effect whatsoever as the TV ratings for the parade broke records with 28.5 million viewers.

#6: Left-Out Attack

Typically, Thanksgiving is a time for families and friends to reunite for the holidays and celebrate with good cheer. However, Joseph Hoo wasn’t able to do that as he was banned from turning up to another family's event in New Milford, New Jersey. Well, his actions afterwards probably explained why he wasn’t invited. Hoo arrived at the residence to find out the reason for his exclusion and then threatened the family with a machete. When the police arrived, he attempted to drive off, only to be pulled over, where officers found his teenage son, the machete, and two baseball bats inside the vehicle with him. For his bizarre reaction, Hoo received one year of probation and was fined for “disorderly conduct.”

#5: Shuttle Bus Racism

In 2024, Pervez and Nicole Taufiq took their three children with them to Mexico shortly before Thanksgiving. Yet on the trip back to Los Angeles, California, it all fell apart when meeting Arlene Bunch. Starting on the plane, according to Pervez, she spotted their son sitting alone and began questioning his race. However, it got worse on the airport shuttle bus. Bunch uttered racist insults towards the family, who have Indian heritage, sparking Pervez to record the exchange. After Bunch was identified, she spoke to the media. She claimed that the Taufiqs called her “White trash” and, at the same time, she used the insult against them. Bunch also excused her behavior due to a brain injury she’d suffered a year before.

#4: Walmart Profiling

Rushing around a grocery store to prepare for Thanksgiving is probably up there in the most stressful situations for a person to be in. Yet for one Walmart customer in 2022, it was far worse. At a store in Moreno Valley, California, a Black customer was set to leave after paying for his goods. However, one of Walmart’s employees, a White man, wasn’t having that. While the customer attempted to show his receipt, the worker ignored that and uttered, “You people always trying to steal,” before removing items from the cart! Because that wasn’t racist enough, the employee also reportedly threw in slurs, too. Unsurprisingly, the worker was swiftly fired.

#3: Wacky Racer

In 2022, the 5-kilometer Coffee Pot Turkey Trot Thanksgiving race in St. Petersburg, Florida, could’ve resulted in disaster. Ignoring the road closure and the police attempting to prevent her, Ashlee Morgan sped off in her car, nearing the race and the thousands of runners. Thankfully, officers managed to stop her from driving recklessly. However, the Karen drama wasn’t over. Morgan was livid that the cops had the audacity to stop her since it was Thanksgiving and that she was recently divorced…shocker(!) She also compared her situation to that of Black people being falsely detained by the police. In response, Morgan was pepper-sprayed multiple times and was arrested for her dangerous driving and for several other charges.

#2: Angry Grandma

Stereotypically, grandmas are warm, fuzzy, friendly folk whom kids love to see and spend time with. Unfortunately for Lachunda Johnson, she breaks that mold in a bad, bad way. In 2024, while enjoying a family Thanksgiving in Memphis, Tennessee, Johnson had too much to drink. It happens. Yet what doesn’t happen is Johnson’s actions after. For some reason, she pushed her grandson, causing Johnson and her daughter to argue. Filled with rage, the grandmother grabbed a knife and attacked her daughter, injuring her hand. Then, Johnson went for her grandson, injuring his hand, too. Thankfully, the other three minors in the house escaped Johnson’s rage. The police soon arrived and arrested the grandma for assault.

#1: Thanksgiving Cross

Not even Thanksgiving could turn Worden Butler and Alexis Hartnett into good residents in Horry County, South Carolina. In 2023, after stalking and harassing their neighbors with racially-charged language, they made it significantly worse on Thanksgiving. Reportedly stemming from a property line dispute, Butler and Harnett placed a cross on their front lawn, pointed it at their Black neighbors, and set it on fire. Yikes. Of course, it didn’t go down well with the authorities, who raided their house and arrested the duo for their hate crime. In 2025, after pleading guilty, Butler was sentenced to time served and released. The same year, while awaiting a trial for this case, Harnett was arrested for violating her home detention for an unrelated indecent exposure charge.

Which holiday brings out the worst in Karens? Let us know below!