Who is Stella Thomas? Gas station 'Karen' who yelled racist slur at Asian Uber driver suspended
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA: A White woman was caught on camera shouting racial comments at an Uber driver in a gas station at East Woodlawn and Park roads in the city. In the video, the driver, 46-year-old Outhay Chokbengboun, who recorded the video, can be heard saying, “These people over here calling me c***k and everything… I’m gonna call the cops.”
The video was shared across social media and as per news reports, the incident apparently took place on Saturday, June 19. Reportedly, Chokbengboun was driving three friends when he realized the wrong destination address had been put in. When Chokbengboun told them to put the correct address in, the woman in question allegedly became verbally abusive, hurling racial slurs at the driver.
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Chokbengboun pulled into the gas station and told the woman and her two friends to get out of his car. It was also then that he started filming. As can be seen in the video, the woman’s friend apologized to the driver several times. “I'm sorry, I am so f***ing sorry. I'm going to get these broads out of here,” the White man can be seen telling Chokbengboun, gesturing towards the angry woman who he called Stella and a third person, also a woman.
But the person called Stella seemed relentless, threatening to call 911 about Chokbengboun and attempting to take down his address. “No I'm not going to walk away,” she can be seen and heard telling her friend. “This little Asian-American. No I'm not afraid.” She then said in a mocking fashion, “I'm sorry, go back to Asia.”
Near the end of the video, as the woman called Stella started walking away, Chokbengboun can be seen telling the White man, “All I did was drive,” to which he responded, “I am sorry. You are a good man, and you are working your f***ing a** off. I am sorry.” Chokbengboun then said, “I work all day, and you guys give me the wrong s**t here. I’m gonna call 911. I’m gonna wait right here.”
Who is Stella Thomas?
Various news reports have identified the racist White woman as Stella Thomas. Queen City Nerve reported that Thomas has now deleted all social media accounts. However, a LinkedIn profile reportedly shows her as the marketing manager for AB Ludvig Svensson, a company headquartered in Sweden with an American operations office in Charlotte.
Representatives of Ludvig Svensson confirmed that Thomas is the woman in the video and that she has been suspended. “Our company enforces a multicultural environment and unfortunately this is something people do,” a representative of Svensson told Queen City Nerve. “She’s been with the company a long time and she’s been a very good asset.” The president of American operations for Ludvig Svensson, Mauricio Manotas, also lives in Charlotte. Manotas commented on the story in an email to Queen City Nerve stating, “We at Ludvig Svensson strongly object to this kind of behavior. Disciplinary actions are being taken as we speak. We support a safe and all-inclusive work environment.”