Penn State news by
Penn State's student blog

Topics

More

Viral Video ‘Karen’ Mistaken For Penn State Employee

With literally hundreds of thousands of Penn Staters in the world, you’re bound to mix a few up once in a while.

A flock of Twitter uses did just that Wednesday afternoon when they mistakenly identified a viral video star as a Penn State employee. The woman, who identified herself as Kathy Hill, got into a scuffle with a York County Red Lobster manager and her staff after demanding a refund following slow service on Mother’s Day.

According to a bystander in the video, some customers had been waiting for nearly three hours for their food before the dispute broke out.

Video of the altercation surfaced in a tweet Tuesday night, which had garnered more than 136,000 likes and nearly 11 million views just 24 hours later. The fight escalated enough to include hair-pulling, a few punches, and plenty of sentence enhancers — the whole nine yards.

Virtual bystanders began speculating on the woman’s identity and incorrectly identified her as Kathy Hill, the director of the Center for Science and the Schools (CSATS) at Penn State’s College of Education. The university quickly responded to these claims a number of times, each featuring the same two messages.

“We agree the behavior in this video is unacceptable and inappropriate and, when notified of its existence just a few hours ago, we began looking into the matter,” Penn State said in a statement. “After our evaluation, we can say that the individual in the video is not affiliated with our University. She has been incorrectly identified and it is unfortunate that this misinformation was spread so rapidly.”

While some viewers came to Hill’s defense and pointed out York is nearly 100 miles from Happy Valley, a few anti-Penn State Twitter trolls had a good time poking fun at the university for the altercation.

Moral of the story: If you start swinging fists over some cheddar bay biscuits, be prepared to be mistaken for a Penn Stater and subsequently ridiculed on the Internet for it.

Your ad blocker is on.

Please choose an option below.

Sign up for our e-mail newsletter:
OR
Support quality journalism:
Purchase a Subscription!

About the Author

Matt DiSanto

Matt proudly served as Onward State’s managing editor for two years until graduating from Penn State in May 2022. Now, he’s off in the real world doing real things. Send him an email ([email protected]) or follow him on Twitter (@mattdisanto_) to stay in touch.

‘It’s A Great Way To Get Outside & Forget About Homework’: Penn State Club Ski Team Makes Run To Nationals

Penn State’s Club Ski Team took a trip to Lake Placid, New York, to compete in nationals over spring break.

Penn State Alum Taking Passion For Storytelling & Cooking To Next Level

Gabrielle Chappel has taken her skills to FOX’s “Next Level Chef” where she competes on Team Ramsay.

Decorating Downtown: State College Resident Paints Town & Faces

Whether it’s faces or windows, local painter Emily Cooper has you covered.

Follow on Another Platform
113kFollowers
164kFollowers
59.4kFollowers
4,570Subscribers