Karlos Dillard's "Karen" Video

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Overview

Karlos Dillard "Karen" Video refers to a viral video in which a man named Karlos Dillard confronts a white woman who cut him off in traffic and allegedly gave him the middle finger. While Dillard alleges the lady called him the n-word, many were skeptical about if the narrative Dillard presented in the video was accurate, noting his attempt to market anti-Karen shirts after posting the video and his supposed history of being a Trump supporter.

Background

On June 22nd, 2020, Karlos Dillard, who uses the Twitter handle @wypipo_h8,^[1] posted a video in which he confronts a white woman who he claims cut him off in traffic and gave him the middle finger (reupload shown below). When confronted by a neighbor asking about the situation, he also alleges she called him the n-word. Throughout the video, the woman apologizes for cutting Dillard off but does not admit to name-calling and says she supports the Black Lives Matter movement. "Please forgive me! I’m sorry,” she says. "You don’t know how much my heart is just breaking right now because you don’t know how much I love humanity."

The video was posted to his Instagram stories and his Twitter account, the latter of which has been temporarily suspended as of June 24th.

Developments

Initially, the reaction to the video was similar to other recent "Karen" videos, with people condemning the woman, dubbing her "Road Rage Karen."^[6] In particular, people cited her defense of "I have a black husband" as deserving of mockery.^[7]^[8]

The video was met with skepticism from onlookers who cited details in the video which suggested that Dillard was exaggerating the situation. For example, some noted that he only brought up the "n-word" accusation once, and only when he was challenged by a third party, which some felt was strange.^[2] Jesse Singal^[3] voiced suspicion that Dillard calls himself a "viral video star who sells edgy antiracist t-shirts," and "just happens to be getting called the N-word regularly by Seattleites. The actual incidents are never caught on film but he always posts a confrontation right after…"

Others noted that Dillard's alleged history as a Trump supporter roused their suspicion that he was attempting to fabricate a "Karen" video for clout.^[4]^[5]