NYT story on Victoria’s Secret Karen lawsuit sparks outrage
The New York Times and a couple of other US media organization have sparked anger with their coverage of a lawsuit involving Victoria’s Secret Karen and a black woman.
The incident took place at a New Jersey shopping mall during the COVID-19 era in 2021 when a black woman, Ijeoma Ukenta, insisted the white woman, Abigail Elphick, maintain mandatory distancing when she went their to get Victoria’s Secret underwear.
A cashier, shopping mall’s security and police got involved in the incident after an angry Elphick lunged at Ukenta and then fell to the floor in tears asking the black woman to stop making her video.
In its latest story on the incident, The New York Times cited court documents and the arguments both the women presented in the court filings in their defense.
While newspaper gave details of what led Abigail to create the drama, it also wrote about the money the black women made out of the video recorded at the Short Hills Mall.
Ukenta reportedly earned money by sharing the video of the incident on YouTube.
A large number of people have objected to the New York Times story, which they said implied that Ukenta’s video or commentary was misleading.
In a tweet, which has been seen over two million people, the reporting on the incident has been called, “Yet another cleanup job the media is so happy to do in order to rehabilitate white woman facing consequences for bad behavior.”
The coverage of the lawsuit seems to have divided the people, with some people defending Abigail Elphick while others lamenting the media ethics over its reporting.