Dubbed the “$1,000 Karen,” a South Asian man told police he was attacked by a group of Black women, but video evidence showed he was the aggressor, and he paid for their damaged personal property on the spot.
A Chicago social media influencer known as Angelicaaabae or “Jelly” was on vacation with her friends when the neighbor at their vacation rental began “tweakin on us,” as she wrote in the caption of her now viral video on Instagram.
As she and her friends stood outside the building’s gate where they were staying, the unidentified man told them to leave. “Give me the keys, give me the keys of the building,” he said to one of the women in the group.
When someone spoke up to defend her — “first of all, get the f-ck out of her face” — the situation quickly escalated, and he angrily approached them, moving within inches of their faces, yelling, “Hey.”
“I started screaming when he made his voice deeper and said ‘EY EY,’” wrote one observer in the comments. But what happened next was no laughing matter. He suddenly smacked the phone out of Angelicaaabae’s hand to prevent her from filming the confrontation, and she later claimed to the police that he pushed her.
As he tried to retreat behind the gate, the women caught up to him and Angelicaaabae pushed him from behind, as seen on footage recorded by someone else in the group. He and his wife then called the police, and when officers arrived, he switched up his story and accused the women of attacking him and hitting him in the neck, unprovoked.
If it weren’t for the video evidence, he may have gotten away with it. Instead, the officers sided with the women, and he “ate that Humble Pie real fast,” wrote an Instagram user.
As soon as the word “jail” popped up in the conversation, the man capitulated, saying, “I will buy you a new phone, whatever phone you want.” With the two police officers standing by, the Chicago influencer brokered a deal for $1,000 in exchange for not pressing charges, and shockingly, he handed her an envelope full of cash right there on the sidewalk.
“I’m starting out fresh. I apologize, things got very heated, and I touched you, and I threw your phone,” he admitted.
“I would’ve pressed charges & got a big ole bag from him. We too damn nice!” wrote one person on Instagram. “NO MERCY for ‘men’ that think it’s okay to bully women,” exclaimed another, followed by “This might be the best video of 2025!”
“He would’ve paid damn near anything at that moment not to get locked up,” noted a commenter. “When being a Karen costs ya $1000.”
