Gayle King Is Being Praised For Calmly Dismantling The ‘SoHo Karen’ Who Tackled A Black Teen After Falsely Accusing Him Of Stealing Her Phone

In one of the more uncomfortable morning talk show interviews you will ever see, CBS This Morning host Gayle King spoke to Miya Ponsetto, the so-called “SoHo Karen” who was arrested on Thursday after falsely accusing a Black teenager of stealing her phone.

The incident took place last December at the Arlo Hotel in Manhattan’s SoHo district, where Ponsetto confronted Keyon Harrold, a prominent jazz musician, and his 14-year-old son, Keyon Harrold, Jr., about her missing phone. “In the video, Ms. Ponsetto can be seen confronting Mr. Harrold and his son after they walk into the hotel lobby, insisting without evidence that Keyon Jr. has her cellphone,” the New York Times reported. “Ms. Ponsetto can be seen asking a hotel manager to help her, after which the manager identifies himself and asks Keyon Jr. to produce a cellphone, in an apparent attempt to verify Ms. Ponsetto’s claim.” Ponsetto then tackled the teenager and tried to “rummage” through his pockets. The phone was discovered by an Uber driver later that day.

In the hours before she was arrested (she “nearly slammed her car door on a deputy and needed to be yanked from her ride during her arrest,” according to authorities), Ponsetto sat down with King for a “disastrous interview” that, I mean… just watch.

The “Daddy” hat, the defensiveness, the “I am a 22-year-old girl” excuse (I’m still trying to make sense of, “I don’t… racism is… how is one girl accusing a guy about a phone a crime?”). But it’s Ponsetto snapping at King and telling her “enough” that really set people off. As pointed out by activist and writer Charlotte Clymer, “I don’t know why Miya Ponsetto’s lawyer didn’t step in and end this disaster.” Through it all, King does an incredible (and incredibly patient) job of letting Ponsetto, who claims that she’s “super sweet” and “never, never meant” to hurt Harrold Jr., dig her own grave, essentially.

https://twitter.com/justinkirkland4/status/1347563689759666176

https://twitter.com/EricaJoy/status/1347568766784192513

https://twitter.com/lulahoop_/status/1347566278555394049

https://twitter.com/tatianatenreyro/status/1347576696078266372

I can’t get over the hat.

Ponsetto is being held without bail at a pre-trial detention facility in Ventura, California.