New year, same ole Karens.
In an incident captured on video and shared on Twitter, a white woman attacks a Black man at a Hilton Hotel in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. The incident allegedly happened after hotel staff served the Black man first, who was prioritized because he’s a Diamond member, before the White woman and her partner, according to the Daily Dot.
The video was taken by @monty_sexton, whose name is King on Twitter, and has been viewed over 800,00 times, liked over 15,000 times and retweeted over 5,000 times since it was posted on New Year’s Day. King has written to Hilton Hotels and as of Monday, Jan. 3, has received no response after reporting the incident.
The Black man being attacked in the video is @slyfoxnyc, whose name is HL on Twitter, comments under the video claiming to be the Black man being attacked, “Can you please send the video to me so I can send to Hilton headquarters, because of this security failure the couple had the police waiting outside looking for me for hours I couldn’t stay at the hotel that night because they lied saying I attacked them. Thanks for recording.”
The Daily Dot has a synopsis of what occurred in the video:
The footage shows HL standing by a reception desk separated from the white couple by four people who appear to be hotel security guards.
“Y’all haven’t de-escalated the situation because she’s still right there talking,” King can be heard saying, referring to the white woman. “Y’all are supposed to separate the party.”
After some unintelligible shouting and arguing, the white woman broke apart from the staff and attacked HL, wrapping her hands around his head and pulling him away from the reception desk. He can be seen trying to break free from her hold, then he punched the white man. The white man fell to the ground and seemed to be knocked out.
The security guards then attempted to restrain the white woman. Meanwhile, King can be heard repeatedly calling out that “everything is on camera.” In the video, HL described the couple as “drunk” and “rude.”
The security guards’ efforts to subdue the white woman didn’t seem to work, and she came back into the video frame, pulling herself out of the guards’ grips. She approached her partner, who was still laying on the floor. Then she yanked off her purse and stomped back over to HL, who was still standing by the reception desk.
The white woman tried to attack HL again, but security guards pulled her away. Another staffer led HL away. HL shook his head without saying anything as he walked away, but King questioned why the white woman was able to continue rampaging.
“Where is y’all’s security?” he yelled. “Get her under control. Oh my god! I don’t understand this. This is crazy. Where’s y’all’s security? Because this is unacceptable. This is unacceptable.”
The white woman broke away from the guards again and tried moving toward HL again.
“And y’all still haven’t restrained her,” King yelled.
The guards seemed to be trying to pull the woman down a hallway as the video ended. After the incident, HL stated he wasn’t allowed to stay at the hotel that night.
First of all, if the allegations are true, why was she so angry that she wasn’t served first? I’m not the most patient person but attacking someone ahead of you because they’re being taken care of first? Wild.
Secondly, why was the man who was attacked not allowed to stay at the hotel that night?
One user felt the same way saying, “What do you mean YOU couldn’t stay at the hotel? What in ALL da fuqs??? @Hilton @HiltonHotels this you?”
HL, the man who was attacked in the video, responded to the user saying, “Yes they came back with cops saying I attacked them waiting for hours outside the hotel with the police and @hilton wanted me to not encounter the police so I went and stayed at the Airbnb I also had rented, I was only staying at Hilton because I rented the venue for my NYE party.”
According to the Daily Dot, a spokesperson for the hotel said he was allowed to stay the night if he chose to.
But wait, it doesn’t end there.
HL also tweeted that before the video, the couple tried to cut him in line and the woman’s partner called him the N-word. He did not allow for the couple to jump him in line.
“We are aware a video has been made public showing a portion of an altercation between guests at Hilton Rio De Janeiro Copacabana,” the Hilton Rio De Janeiro Copacabana spokesperson said, according to the Daily Dot.
Now the only question that remains is if Karen will face any consequences.