Woman Who Falsely Accused Black Teen of Stealing Her Phone Snaps at Gayle King in Interview

Hours before 22-year-old Miya Ponsetto was arrested for her suspected involvement in an attack on a young Black teen, she attempted to defend herself to Gayle King in an interview with CBS This Morning. It didn’t go well. 

If you’re not aware of this case, here’s some quick background:  On December 26, 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. and his father, Emmy-winning musician Keyon Harrold Sr., were stopped by Ponsetto and employees at the Arlo Hotel in New York City after Ponsetto accused Harrold Jr. of stealing her phone. But Ponsetto’s phone wasn’t with Harrold Jr.: It was later returned to her by an Uber driver, according to USA Today. Harrold Sr. captured the confrontation on video, which, per CBS News, shows a woman believed to be Ponsetto physically attacking the teen. 

The video quickly went viral, with the internet dubbing Ponsetto “SoHo Karen” and accusing her of blatant racial profiling. 

King asked Ponsetto about the racial implications of her actions during their interview, to which she replied,  “Okay, so basically I’m a 22-year-old girl. Racism, uh, is…how is one girl accusing a guy about a phone a crime?“

At another point in the conversation, Ponsetto tries to claim Harrold Sr. threw her to the ground, to which King replied, “The video we saw, it looked like you just attacked his son.”

“Attacking him how?” Ponsetto asked, before saying she already apologized for “yelling” at the 14-year-old. “Can we move on?” 

Watch Miya Ponsetto’s full interview with Gayle King, below. Things get particularly heated when Ponsetto—wearing a “Daddy” hat—snaps at King, “Enough!” while holding her hand up in dismissal. Ponsetto’s lawyer sat next to her the whole chat, looking seemingly frustrated by her client’s attitude. 

Ponsetto was arrested in Los Angeles hours after the interview aired by the New York Police Department, according to People.

“Gayle handled that,” one Twitter user praised as the clip went viral on Twitter. 

“This is not about an apology from someone who, until a few days ago, was claiming she did nothing wrong, and in fact alleged Keyon Harrold Sr. had assaulted her,” Harrold Jr.’s parents said in a statement to CBS This Morning. “Someone who targeted a 14-year-old Black child because of the color of his skin.”