Cinnabon worker fired from Wisconsin store after shouting racist slurs at customers
A Cinnabon worker was fired from a Wisconsin store where she worked after a video that showed her shouting racist slurs, including the N-word, at two customers went viral online. The Georgia-based cinnamon roll chain confirmed the worker's firing and condemned her outburst in a social media statement.
Cinnabon said in its statement that the worker was "immediately terminated" by the franchise owner over the viral video, which the company called "disturbing." It posted the statement as a comment on the video on X, although the footage originally appeared on TikTok. The worker was not identified by name.
"We've seen the disturbing video from the Cinnabon bakery in Ashwaubenon, WI, and we do not condone this behavior," the statement said. "The former employee was immediately terminated by the franchise owner. Their actions do not reflect our values or the welcoming experience every guest deserves."
In a follow-up statement to the Associated Press, the company added: "Their actions and statements are completely unacceptable and in no way reflect the values of Cinnabon, our franchisees, or the welcoming environment we expect for every guest and team member."
The video was first posted on TikTok and showed a white, female employee cursing at and taunting the customers from behind the counter as one of them recorded the encounter. At one point, she is seen on video uttering a racial slur and saying, "I am racist and I'll say it to the whole entire world. Don't be disrespectful."
The employee was also recorded giving an obscene hand gesture at customers and exchanging expletives with one of the persons at the store.
The TikTok user who posted the video said the incident happened while she and her husband were taking a break from shopping on Friday at a mall in Ashwaubenon, a suburb of Green Bay.
The customer said she ordered a caramel pecan cinnamon roll and had asked the worker to add more caramel, as it didn't appear to have enough.
She said she began recording after the worker snapped at her and derided her hijab.
An online fundraising campaign to support the customers described them as a "black Somali Muslim couple" who were "traumatized" by the incident.
A competing campaign to purportedly benefit the fired worker, meanwhile, has raised tens of thousands of dollars. That effort appears on the same Christian crowdfunding platform where hundreds of thousands of dollars were raised for a Minnesota woman who admitted to using a racist slur against a Black child at a playground earlier this year.