Is the internet villain known as “Phillies Karen” employed by your friendly neighborhood New Jersey school district?
No!
Absolutely not!
So please, please, please, please, stop saying it!
That’s essentially the message from Hammonton Public Schools, which somehow found itself sucked into the latest viral video turned online sleuthing frenzy on Saturday.
“The woman identified on social media as ‘Phillies Karen’ is not, and has never been an employee of the Hammonton Public Schools,” the district wrote in a statement on its social media accounts. “Social media and news reports indicating that she is, are incorrect.”
For those who live under a rock, “Phillies Karen” is the yet-to-be-identified woman who went viral for her altercation Friday over a home run ball hit during a Philadelphia Phillies game in Miami.
A man raced to grab the ball that landed near “Phillies Karen’s” seat, hustled back to his family and dropped it into the glove of his son, who was reportedly at the game to celebrate his birthday.
But so-called “Phillies Karen” wasn’t going down without a fight and started a heated verbal altercation, pressuring the man until he grabbed the ball from the child and gave it to her.
TV cameras and cell phone video captured the exchange, and the silver-haired woman in glasses and Phillies garb became an instant social media lightning rod.
Her identity is now the source of wild guesses and disproven theories, apparently including that she worked for or had been fired by the Atlantic County district.
It’s no surprise the internet would try to pin confrontational behavior on New Jersey. But the school district had some fun with being dragged into this mess.
“Anyone who works for our school district, attended as a student or lives in our community would obviously have caught the ball bare-handed in the first place,” the district wrote, “avoiding this entire situation.”
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Adam Clark may be reached at aclark@njadvancemedia.com.
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