Link.
It was around 2 a.m. on Saturday when the Airbnb host kicked Kenneth Simpson and his friends out of her New York townhouse. "Get your things and get the f--- out of my house," Simpson recalled her saying to the five black men.
As the friends started to pack their things, the owner, listed on Airbnb under the name Kate, called them "criminals," saying she felt threatened by their presence, Simpson told The Washington Post. That's when Simpson told his friends to start recording the exchange. Then, she uttered a racial epithet long used toward black people.
"Which monkey is gonna stay on the couch?" the host asked the group.
The moment, captured in two viral videos shared by Simpson over the weekend, is the latest in a line of racist encounters on platforms like Airbnb, again calling into question the safeguards in place to protect customers from hateful actions. On Sunday, Airbnb announced it had banned the host, calling the language she used "unacceptable."
But things didn't seem right when they arrived at the Upper East Side home late Friday. Although the listing was advertised as an entire-unit rental, they discovered it was a shared home, Simpson said. He added that the group was given the okay to bring a dog in a crate, but the hosts reportedly balked at the animal when they arrived. Then, the host's boyfriend asked them to lower their music and keep their voices down. The friends felt uncomfortable, Simpson said, but vowed to make it through the night before finding a different place to stay in the morning.
Then, Kate told them they had to go, giving them a few minutes to leave, he said. At that point, the friends called the police and started filming. The videos, posted to Twitter on Saturday, have combined for more than 420,000 views as of early Monday.
Edit - The boyfriend of the host made a reddit post:
Last edited:
