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Red Lobster Karen

Red Lobster Karen

Part of a series on Karen. [View Related Entries]

Updated May 14, 2020 at 10:14AM EDT by Y F.

Added May 14, 2020 at 09:15AM EDT by Sophie.

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About

Red Lobster Karen refers to a viral video of a Red Lobster customer, Cathy Hill, getting into a physical fight with employees over long wait times on Mother's Day 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. The video circulated Facebook and Twitter causing the customer to be nicknamed Karen.

Origin

On May 11th, 2020, Facebook user Deluxe Dealz posted a video of a woman getting kicked out of a Red Lobster in an attempt to get her money back for long wait times (shown below). The video captioned, "This occurred on Mother’s Day, may 10th, 2020, in York county PA at red lobster out in East York" gained over 10,00 reacts in three days. The York Daily Record[7] published a statement from the police officer on duty who said: "She was upset because her food wasn't ready. She wanted her money refunded […] That restaurant's closed; you're not allowed in there. My understanding is all food is brought outside of the building."



Spread

On May 11th, 2020, @ArmoredGoat reposted the video and received over 12.5 million views, 154,400 likes and 30,800 retweets in three days (shown below). The video was captioned, "A Karen Goes Berserk at Red Lobster on Mother's Day (YORK, PA) Woman upset that she has to wait 3 hours for food from Red Lobster on Mother’s Day when the restaurant has a reduced staff."



The next day, Red Lobster released a statement from their CEO on Twitter[1] apologizing for the wait times (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 300 likes in two days. The next day, Keemstar [8] responded to the video in a tweet saying, "Not going to lie, waiting 3 hours for food.. hmmm I gotta defend Karen! I’d want my money back too!" which accumulated over 3,000 likes in a day. On May 13th, Twitter user @tortillablanket[2] posted a that sign can't stop me because I can't read meme regarding the incident and garnered over 590 likes in a day (shown below, right). The Daily Dot,[3] Heavy,[4] Blavity[5] and Barstool[6] published articles on the viral video.


Red Lobster @redlobster A letter from CEO Kim Lopdrup about Mother's Day. May 12, 2020 Dear Red Lobster Guests, I apologize that we disappointed many of you this past weekend as you placed orders for Mother's Day, one of the most important days of the year. We received significantly more online orders than we have ever gotten in a single day, and despite preparing for a spike in demand on Mother's Day, some of our restaurants were unable to keep up with the volume. Many of you experienced unacceptable delays and crowds in our parking lots and at the doors of our restaurants when you came to pick up orders, and some of you did not receive your orders. Unfortunately, this ruined many planned celebrations, and I am deeply sorry. We are working urgently to make sure this never happens again. We are reviewing our online systems to better support demand during peak periods. We will also review and improve our social distancing procedures to better handle situations where we have higher than expected volume. Many of you have contacted us about your experiences, and our team is working diligently to get back to you. We appreciate your patience. We do not take lightly the fact that you trusted us with your Mother's Day celebration and we let many of you down. We will do our very best to regain your trust and hope you allow us to serve you and celebrate with you again in the future. Sincerely, fim A Lopdhays Kim Lopdrup CEO, Red Lobster 11:38 AM - May 12, 2020 · Sprinklr Publisher ghost beef @tortillablanket the Karavan of Karens @ the multiple warnings on the Red Lobster doors about operating w/ a reduced staff bc we're in a f------ pandemic: DUE TO COVID-19 SAFETY MEASURES, WE ARE OPERATING AT HALF STAFF. GREATLY INCREASED WAIT TIMES WILL OCCUR FOR DINERS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE. That sign won't stop ime. because I can't read! imgflip.com 1:29 PM · May 13, 2020 - Twitter for iPhone

Various Examples


ReMona= +the Yak @ReallyRemona Replying to @ArmoredGoat Hitting a restaurant worker FIRST.and then saying you were assaulted after she grabs your hair in retaliation. KATHY KAREN HILL..we have you on tape, hon. 1:04 / 2:14 O 31 27 121 142 Tweet your reply 7:11 PM - May 12, 2020 - Twitter for iPhone 知 Still Not Devehn @imnotdevdev F--- a red lobster Karen 5:38 PM - May 13, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone





Search Interest

External References

[1] Twitter – RedLobster

[2] Twitter – tortillablanket

[3] Daily Dot – Video Red Lobster Karen

[4] Heavy – Kathy Hill Brawl Red Lobster

[5] Blavity – Pennsylvania Karen Attacked Red Lobster Employee

[6] Barstool Sports – Even in a Pandemic We Have a Mother's Day Brawl

[7] YDR – Red Lobster Wait Time Sparks Brawl

[8] Twitter – KEEMSTAR

Related Entries 26 total


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Top Comments

DirkDiggums
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DirkDiggums

1st, Red Lobster should not be taking orders if its a 3 hour wait. I know from experience that many of these "pickup" orders they tell you 1 hr and then it's 3-4 hours wait. They take on way too many hours that overwhelm the staff that have to take the brunt of the abuse from Karens.

2nd, you should not go into Red Lobster and cause a massive scene, not wearing a mask showing you don't give a fuck about anyone but yourself. If it gets to the point where the staff are kicking your out by force, you done fucked up. The entitlement is off the charts with these people – imagine a real food shortage and actual sacrifice that these people would have to make. They are so decadent and lazy that they can't do anything at all to inconvenience themselves. It's embarrassing to watch and I fear for the insanity that will ensue when a real crisis happens that doesn't allow you to just sit in your home and use the internet and order out whenever you like.

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Kloggmonkey
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Kloggmonkey

This is a situation where I personally feel that no-one is right honestly. Yeah, Karen is a total bitch and caused a fucking scene by acting like a 5 year old, but at the same time, if you have a 3 hour wait time for to go orders, DON'T TAKE ANY MORE ORDERS. That just overwhelms the staff. This is coming from someone that works in food service. Though at the same time, she could have just politely asked for the order to be declined and see if she could just get her money back. Again, both sides are wrong in this situation.

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