On a sunny day at The Boathouse, a Santa Barbara restaurant, a Karen decided to cause an unnecessary ruckus. In a five-minute video recording of the incident, the woman confronts the person recording, a Black man, and takes things to another level.
On May 11, Ian Soleimani, a local DJ, shared to his Instagram the footage he caught of the incident. The Daily Dot reported the woman had tried to pay at the restaurant with a PayPal card but the transaction declined. The restaurant allegedly held her ID and told her to come back the next day with another payment method. In the video, the woman goes back and forth with the manager asking for her ID and insisting she paid.
“What part of you rejecting the payment don’t you recall because I know it wasn’t you, it was your Dr. Phil,” the woman said in the video.
Then, she notices Soleimani recording her.
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“Hi, one of four black men in Santa Barbara,” she tells him. “Oh, now I’m a racist, terrible person. Oh, sorry, just because you’re an obnoxious guy. It’s not your fault that you’re black, of course.”
“I’m against obnoxious people to be fair, not against black people,” she continues.
The woman then turns to Soleimani and once again mentions his race amidst sarcastically calling him Mother Theresa for recording.
“Again, don’t you have some fish to catch, African-American man?” she says. According to one of Soleimani’s comments on his Instagram post, he was wearing a Santa Barbara Fish Market sweater which may have prompted the woman’s fishing comments. “Don’t you want to go on a boat and do some African-American fishing?”
It’s not your fault you’re Black?? African-American fishing?? Watch the full video from Soleimani’s Instagram page.
Anywho, the situation concluded with the woman getting her ID back while also being told she’s not allowed at the restaurant again. Soleimani told The Daily Dot this wasn’t the first time somebody racist was kicked out the establishment.
“People have been kicked out of boathouse a few times for [racially] motivated comments towards myself unfortunately. After experiencing stuff like that on and off for as long as that restaurant has been open, just doesn’t surprise me. Just learned how to deal with it better,” said Soleimani.
Oh! And apparently the restaurant manager’s husband confirmed the woman’s name was in fact, Karen.