A Patrick Mahomes fan is being dubbed the “Kansas City Karen” after stealing Mahomes’ headband away from a little boy named Joey Masters.
The football fan, who has been identified as Nina Miller, has caused an uproar after viral video shows her snatching a headband out of the hand of a little boy who had just received it from the Kansas City Chiefs player.
The video shows Mahomes running to the stands at the end of his Sept. 21 game against the New York Giants to greet fans. He locked eyes with the young boy and quickly handed his white headband to Masters.
As soon as the headband reached Masters’ palm, another hand — which belonged to Miller — leaned over and grabbed the other end of it. A slowed down clip at the end of the video shows Miller’s hand as she yanked the headband out of Masters’ hand.
Masters, who is stunned, then says, “Come on! Yo she just stole that from me!”
It was later discovered that not only was Masters celebrating his 10th birthday at the time, but it was also his first time attending a football game.
Miller’s actions infuriated viewers around the world, who gave her the new nickname “Kansas City Karen” online. People also created the hashtag #justiceforJoey.
In response to the backlash, on Sept. 29, she posted an apology video on TikTok, saying she felt “horrible” about the incident and wanted to make it right.
“Guys, I just want to talk to you guys for one minute from my heart. At the game, with all the noise and all the excitement, I honestly thought that Patrick Mahomes was giving me the headband. I reached for it without thinking,” she claimed in her video.
“To the young boy. I’m sorry that I ruined your moment,” said Miller. “You should have had your moment for your birthday. I want to send back your headband so you could celebrate your day the way that you were supposed to.”
However, she didn’t ignore the “cruel” comments, calling out the trolls who targeted her online. “I’m human, guys, and I make mistakes. I’m not perfect, but I’m also a mom. And I’m also a Christian. And I’m admitting when I’m wrong and I’m trying to make what I did wrong to try to make it right.”
Fans reacted to the video with no remorse.
One person said, “Mahomes was NOT handing his band to a Giants fan….”
This person is referring to the fact that the woman was wearing a Giants shirt, indicating that she actually attended the game to support Mahomes’ opposing team.
Someone else said, “Girl you snatched it right out his hands! We saw it in broad daylight.”
A third said, “Mahomes wasn’t even looking at you. You were on his peripheral vision and you know that for sure. He was directly parallel with the boy. You’re just doing this because YOU GOT CAUGHT.”
Miller is certainly singing a different tune in her apology video than in the original response video that she made two days earlier.
“I am not a thief,” she said. “When Mahomes came. If you look at the video, both of our hands was on it. He was right to the left of me. I didn’t look in Mahomes eyes to see where is he looking? I just seen he’s handing out something. I put my hand. Both of our hands was on it. I took it.”
She added, “If he was 20 years old, would it have mattered? If he was a 20 year old man and both of our hands was on it, and if he would have took it away from me, would it have been like, ‘Oh, you should have gave it to the woman.”
She questioned why the person with the kid didn’t confront her if they believed she stole it instead of posting the video.
“It is what it is. Make your son a tough man. Because we’re trying to make everyone a little too weak in this world today in 2025. It is what it is.”
Masters spoke with KCTV and told the outlet on Sept. 29, “I just want that band back really bad.” But he didn’t leave empty handed. He also received other gifts such as a glove from Trent McDuffie and had his hat signed by Drue Tranquil.
All hope may not be lost for Masters to get a headband. Tavia Hunt, the wife of Chiefs’ chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, has asked for someone to put her in contact with the family after seeing the video.
