Miami Beach Vacation Rental Owner Goes on Racist Tirade Against Black Guest from England
Monifah Brown and her friends thought they'd found the perfect place to stay during their Miami Beach vacation. The condo unit was right on Ocean Drive, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the beach. Brown, a 24-year-old from London, was thrilled to score a reservation there on Booking.com.
But things took a bizarre and virulently racist turn after Brown, who is black, took too long to respond to a message the condo's owner, Giulia Ozyesilpinar, sent her on WhatsApp. In screenshots and recordings Brown shared with New Times, Ozyesilpinar repeatedly calls Brown a monkey and a "n**ger." Ozyesilpinar also sent voice recordings saying, "You're a n**ger" and making monkey noises before asking, "You want banana?" She even posted a video on YouTube of Brown's ID next to a photo of a monkey.
Ultimately, Booking.com removed the condo from its website — but only after a friend of Brown's posted the screenshots on Twitter.
"I'm just so shocked," says 21-year-old Moesha Bennett, who planned on making the September trip with Brown. "I've never, ever, ever come across anything like this in my life... I don't think I still want to go to Miami."
In a phone conversation with New Times, Ozyesilpinar defended herself by claiming Brown insulted her first, though the screenshots don't reflect that, and Brown denies it. As the condo owner's messages to Brown spread across social media and people left Google reviews calling her racist, a person listed as the owner of Ocean Five Condo Hotel responded with the word "N**GER." Those comments had vanished by Monday afternoon, after New Times spoke with Ozyesilpinar. In an earlier comment that remained online, the owner responded to a person who accused her of racial profiling by saying, "We don't like Monkeys like you with stupid questions."
In a cliched defense of her actions, Ozyesilpinar told New Times she has black friends and is a Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton. She claimed some of the messages were fabricated, although the screenshots show they were sent from her phone number. She also says she doesn't regret using the word "monkey," adding that "being racist is not illegal."
"We live in a free world," she says. "We have freedom of speech. If I want to call somebody a monkey, I should be able to say that."
https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/miam ... r-11204215Amazing what people think they can get away with in the age of social media and phones. Clearly don’t fear (or expect) repercussions.
