Well, that didn’t take long. The internet has once again done its thing, identifying the unhinged McDonald’s parking lot “Karen” as Cheryl Vauk, the CEO of Productive Solutions, a Reno-based software company. And in a move that surprises absolutely no one, her response to the viral video is less of an apology and more of a “sorry you feel that way” attempt at damage control.
For those who missed the initial drama, Vauk was caught on video verbally attacking Janet Chavez, a DoorDash driver, in the parking lot of a Reno McDonald’s. After flipping Chavez off, she escalated things by questioning whether she was “illegal, “a classic racist Karen move that backfired almost immediately.
The video was published on TikTok but has since been removed for breaching community guidelines (which is crazy). You can view it below via Reddit.
Within days, internet sleuths tracked down her identity, and the fallout was swift. Productive Solutions’ social media pages and website vanished, Yelp disabled reviews after an onslaught of one-star ratings, and Vauk found herself facing an online firestorm.
And what does she have to say for herself?
“We All Have Bad Days”
In an email to the Reno Gazette Journal, Vauk admitted she “should not have challenged the young lady” and “should not have asked her if she was legal,” but quickly shifted into self-pity mode.
“We all have bad days. Most of them aren’t captured on video and circulated on the internet,” she lamented, as if being held accountable for blatant racism is just some cosmic misfortune.
She also claimed the incident stemmed from “a lack of self-control,” explaining that she had been “reading news on her phone that made her angry.” Because, apparently, scrolling through headlines entitles you to harass strangers in parking lots.
Perhaps the most telling line came when she said she doesn’t believe the “short video clip” accurately represents “who I am as a person or the values I hold.”
Of course, the internet wasn’t buying it.
If Vauk was hoping for sympathy, she picked the wrong audience. Social media users quickly called out her weak apology, noting that nowhere did she actually take full responsibility for her racism.
“I should not have asked if she was illegal” isn’t the same as “I was racist, and I’m sorry.” Instead of owning her words, she framed them as an unfortunate mistake anyone could make. Another user on Reddit summed up her bullshit apology: “I’m sorry, not sorry for my racism. Please stop coming after me and my family for being racist trash.”
Meanwhile, Chavez –the target of the outburst– was unimpressed, telling the Reno Gazette Journal that the incident was “disheartening, very sad, and disgusting.”
As for Vauk, it remains to be seen what this means for her career. But judging by the internet’s reaction, her company may need more than just a social media blackout to recover from this PR disaster.
