An Uber customer has been banned from the ride-share app after going full Karen and berating a driver in an explosive, racist outburst Wednesday morning.
A witness managed to capture the scene on video, which went viral on social media before the Thanksgiving holiday.
“The behavior seen in the video is sickening and has no place on the Uber platform or anywhere in society,” an Uber spokesperson told The Daily Beast in a statement. “We’ve been in touch with the driver, and the rider’s account has been banned from the app.”
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Washingtonian Problems, a Twitter account dedicated to community news in the D.C. metropolitan area, shared a clip Wednesday from a bystander who filmed the scene from inside a building. An SUV is seen parked on the street below with its backdoor on the passenger side open. A woman and man can be seen arguing on the sidewalk.
“Your phone was not plugged in!” the woman shouts.
“Get the fuck out of my face!” the man yells back.
The woman, who is white, continues to bark in the man’s face.
“I employ you,” she says. “I’m your boss.”
The man, who is Black, puts his hand up as a gesture to get the woman out of his personal space.
“I’m your fucking boss,” the woman continues. “You’re a little piece of shit, n-----.”
The woman continues to hurl the racial slur as she starts to walk away.
“You’re a bitch,” the man attempts to counter the woman.
“I’m a bitch?” she says. “You’re still a slave.”
The battle continues as the woman repeatedly shouts derogatory racial statements.
“I asked for a phone charger, you fucking ignorant n-----,” the woman sneers. Then she yells at the man because her phone battery is low.
The clip ends after the woman complains of a low phone battery, hurls another racial slur, and shoves the man.
According to Uber, the man was a driver who reported the incident, and the rider’s behavior is being investigated. In the meantime, her profile has been removed from the app.
In the company’s statement, a spokesperson iterated that every Uber experience should be “safe, respectful, and positive.”
Commenting directly under Washingtonian Problems’ Twitter post, Uber said, “Behavior like this is never okay. We have a zero tolerance policy for discrimination.”
Neither the driver nor the rider has been publicly identified.
