Cinnabon worker fired after racist outburst directed at customers goes viral
ASHWAUBENON, Wisconsin (AP) — The Georgia-based cinnamon roll chain says a Cinnabon worker in Wisconsin was fired after a racist outburst towards two customers went viral.
Cinnabon released a statement on the issue. social media It was stated that the unidentified worker was “immediately terminated” by the franchisee due to a “disturbing video” of the incident.
“Their actions and statements are completely unacceptable and in no way reflect the values of Cinnabon, our franchisees, or the welcoming environment we expect for every guest and team member,” the company added in a follow-up statement to The Associated Press on Sunday.
The video was posted on TikTok and showed a white female employee cursing and taunting customers from behind the counter while one of them recorded the encounter. At one point, he is seen in the video making a racial slur and saying, “I’m a racist and I’m going to tell the whole world. Don’t be disrespectful.”
It was also recorded that the employee made obscene hand gestures to customers and exchanged profanities with one of the people in the store.
The TikTok user who posted the video said the incident occurred while she and her husband were taking a break from shopping at a mall in Ashwaubenon, a suburb of Green Bay, on Friday.
The customer said he ordered a caramel pecan cinnamon roll and asked the worker to add more caramel because there wasn’t enough.
She said that she started recording after the worker scolded her and mocked her headscarf.
An online fundraising campaign to support the customers described them as a “black Somali Muslim couple” who were “traumatised” by the incident.
Meanwhile, a rival campaign purporting to benefit the fired worker has raised tens of thousands of dollars. This effort also appears on the same Christian crowdfunding platform where hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised for a Minnesota woman. He admitted using a racial slur Against a black kid on the playground earlier this year.
