A bizarre video showing a woman — who social media users have dubbed “Karen” — chasing another woman in a Victoria’s Secret store in New Jersey has gone viral.
“She’s recording me! Tell her to stop!” screeched the woman, who can be seen in the video lying on the floor of a Victoria’s Secret store, incessantly shaking her legs.
“You keep lying, saying I’m threatening you, so I’m recording to protect myself,” replied the other woman, to which the woman on the floor responded by screaming, “No! Get her phone away! Get her phone away, please!”
Moments later, the woman on the floor can be seen standing up and repeatedly screaming, “Get her away from me!” while chasing the other woman — who continues to film — through the store.
Watch Below:
“Stop threatening me!” the woman shouted after chasing the other woman around the store.
“See, and she’s saying I’m threatening her. I’m not saying nothing to her. It’s [I’m filming] to protect me. Once the law get here, who are they going to believe? Her white ass or my black ass?” the woman, who later identified herself as Ijeoma Ukenta in a police report, said.
At another point in the video, the woman who is not filming appears to call the police and can be heard saying, “This person’s threatening me, she’s recording me,” adding that the incident was taking place in the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey.
“She’s on the phone with the police — and she’s chasing me around the damn store,” Ukenta reacted.
“She’s recording me, she’s taping me, and she’s threatening me, she recorded my mental breakdowns, and she’s laughing. Get help over here please, please. My heart’s racing,” continued the other woman, who appeared to still be talking to someone on the phone.
“I just came to get a free panty,” Ukenta said.
Social media users have consequently dubbed the other woman “Karen” — a slang term for entitled, overbearing women, often used to denigrate white women specifically — and circulated video clips of the incident online, causing “Karen” to trend on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.
A representative for the Essex County prosecutors office told TMZ an investigation into the incident is underway to determine if any laws were broken — which includes the conduct of officers who later arrived on the scene.
Victoria’s Secret reacted Tuesday to the incident in a statement posted to Twitter, calling the events depicted in the video “unsettling.”
“Associate and customer safety is our top priority, and we are committed to catering a safe and welcoming environment for all,” Victoria’s Secret said. “The video taken in our store is unsettling and we have initiated a full investigation.”
“Our associates followed our protocols and immediately called our Emergency Operations Center as well as mall security for support during the altercation between our customers,” the company added.
“We are dedicated to continuing this critical conversation and demonstrating our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through our actions and our words,” Victoria’s Secret concluded.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.