We’ve seen so many Karen videos that it’s difficult to believe these people have any right to be in the public eye. The issue lies with Karens being wealthy and entitled individuals who feel as if they can do whatever they please with others without consequence.
1. Abigail Elphick
Many have been calling for Abigail Elphick to be fired from her job due to the video she was filmed doing that was clearly racist and unbecoming of any professional woman. Some even called for her ban from TikTok!
In the video, she is seen charging at Ijeoma Ukenta in a New Jersey grocery store. In it, she also appears to shake and shout at Ukenta.
Ukenta took action by contacting the Millburn Police Department and filing a report, as well as posting videos on her social media accounts and creating a YouTube channel to seek justice against Elphick.
Ukenta recorded the confrontation, and she appeared to notice Elphick was shouting and trying to hit her. As she attempted to take her phone and leave, Elphick shoved her aside and started chasing after her. Ukenta then had a public meltdown, pretending to faint by the registers as she yelled at Elphick in anger.
Elphick eventually becomes aware that she is being recorded and breaks down in tears. She then starts screaming and shaking at Ukenta as she chases her around the store. Although the video is hilariously hysterical, it still conveys Elphick’s threatening attitude.
It is not the first time white people have acted this way when confronted by a Black woman, and it is an alarming trend that needs to be addressed.
Ijeoma Ukenta, who is black and has lived in the area for nearly ten years, filmed the incident. Since then, the video has gone viral, prompting many to demand Elphick be fired from her job.
She works as a teacher’s aide in Cedar Grove, New Jersey and holds a degree in social work. A graduate of Cedar Grove High School, her condition makes her somewhat unique – having both a colostomy and disability. Therefore, it can be said that she was no innocent victim in this instance.
Her behavior in this video was completely out of character for her and highly erratic, yet this does not indicate she is mentally ill or autistic. Rather, it simply indicates that she struggles to manage people and situations outside her control.
2. Ijeoma Ukenta
Ijeoma Ukenta, a Black woman, was filmed chasing Abigail Elphick through a Victoria’s Secret store in New Jersey. The video went viral online, prompting internet users to dub her “Victoria’s Secret Karen.”
Ukenta posted videos on TikTok and YouTube showing the blonde “Karen” chasing her through the store. In one video, she is seen coming towards Ukenta with her hands open as if to strike her.
When Ukenta pulls away, the white woman begins to cry and move away from him. In another video, the white woman screams at Ukenta to stop filming her and then chases after him around the store. She repeatedly orders him to back up while trying to hit her phone out of his hand with it.
Media reports state the incident took place at The Mall in Short Hills, Millburn, New Jersey. Ukenta displayed what she claims is a police report for the incident which she says proves Victoria’s Secret staff corroborated her version of events.
After Ukenta recorded the confrontation, Elphick became distraught, asking security to remove her from the store and file a complaint against her. As she held her head in her hands as she sobbed, saying she felt unsafe and threatened by Ukenta’s recording.
A video of the encounter has gone viral, prompting an internal investigation by Millburn Police Department. Officer in charge Richard Laverty described it as “unsettling” and ordered an internal probe into how it was handled.
Reports state Ukenta was asked to leave the mall. But she refused, and police arrived to find her running around until help arrived.
This isn’t the first time a Karen has been caught on camera attacking a Black woman in a lingerie store. A similar incident took place last year at Victoria’s Secret in Chicago.
Ukenta recorded an incident where Abigail Elphick charged at her and then started crying as she realized she was being recorded. Security then asked Elphick to leave, telling her to “walk away from her”.
3. Miya Ponsetto
Miya Ponsetto, better known as Soho Karen for the video that went viral last month of her assaulting a Black teenager, was arrested in California earlier this month and now faces resisting arrest charges.
On Thursday afternoon, Ventura County sheriff’s deputies pulled over a 22-year-old Californian for an outstanding warrant in New York after a short car chase. She was reported to be distressed as she was driven away and refused to go peacefully, as reported by TMZ.com.
Miya was previously arrested twice in New York for allegedly attacking Black teens and being belligerent when under the influence. In one case, she was found guilty and given 100 hours of community service; however, in the other case it was dismissed.
On Monday, she was charged with hate crime and aggravated harassment for an incident in December in which she falsely accused a Black teen of stealing her phone at a Manhattan hotel. According to The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, she pleaded guilty to one felony count of unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime and two misdemeanor charges of aggravated harassment in exchange for probation and an agreement not to go to prison, according to The Daily News.
Sharen Ghatan, her lawyer, told The Associated Press her client had been feeling emotionally unwell and “lashed out” during the incident. Additionally, she stressed that there were no racial motivations behind it and that anyone could have used the phone – whether it be an elderly grandmother or Black teenager.
She said her client was feeling depressed when she confronted the Black teen, and that it should have been handled differently. She apologized for hurting the teenager’s feelings.
In her interview with Gayle King on CBS This Morning, she denied racism was a factor and refused to admit she physically assaulted the teenager. Nonetheless, she apologized for making him feel inferior. Additionally, in her statement she refuted claims made by her attacker that he had no knowledge of being attacked by her.
Hours after her rambling CBS This Morning interview, the woman was arrested on a New York warrant after an arresting car chase in California. She is being held without bail and awaits a court hearing later on Friday.
4. KK King
Karen King is one of the biggest stars on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, but her past is one that many viewers are unaware of. She was once featured on America’s Most Wanted for allegedly beating her former partner and has been arrested numerous times for various offenses.
She’s been accused of shoplifting from Saks Fifth Avenue in Atlanta and jailed for her involvement in an embezzlement scheme with another woman in 2015. Additionally, she was recently charged with identity fraud for not paying on her Maserati car loan, leading to a 30-year jail sentence.
King has always been a major antagonist on the show, but she also had her share of good moments too. Since season five, she’s been friends with Stevie J and always there for her sons; although Tiarra Becca, Scrapp’s baby mother, and Tommie Lee later in seasons had falling outs with her too.
In Season 8, Karen King has cemented herself as an integral member of the cast, serving as matriarch and major influence in Scrapp’s relationship with Tommie. Additionally, Karen sets Tommie and Tiarra up with each other – a decision which irks Tiarra greatly.
In season 8, KK dropped the biggest surprise on the show when she revealed to Scrapp that his father was still alive. She had previously led him to believe his dad had passed away, but she later revealed he was still around when he needed someone to take him in after being released from prison and spending some time at a halfway house.
Before she became a main cast member on Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, reports indicated that KK and her sons were wanted for the kidnapping and severe beating of their dad Lyndon Baines Smith. Authorities chased after KK for over a year with her two sons DeLeon and SAS before finally apprehending her.
In court, they ultimately reached a resolution and Smith was released from prison. Nonetheless, their arrests caused an enormous media sensation.
King revealed on VH1 around the time she and her sons joined Love & Hip Hop that they were charged with “murder-for-hire.” She states she was supposed to kill her husband, but it was actually their sons who did it out of love for their father – not because he was bad.
