She threatened to call ICE on a street vendor, but now the ‘Santa Clarita Karen’ is asking for forgiveness after her own business imploded

A California woman who was filmed harassing a street taco vendor and threatening to call the cops has taken to social media to release her own video in which she apologized and asked netizens to back off. Francesca Ortega, who became known to many as the “Santa Clarita Karen,” initially apologized before claiming that the fallout from the viral video had affected her business.

Ortega was initially filmed in a viral confrontation with a street vendor in which she was heard claiming taco stands hurt businesses in the community. Things escalated when she started calling the vendors illegal criminals. Targeting one vendor in particular, she spoke in Spanish, calling them a “stinky old woman,” before she threatened to call ICE.

She continued to berate the vendor, claiming the stands were cheap and not classy enough for the area, reports Fox 11.

After the video started circulating online, Ortega began facing severe backlash from netizens. People across the country sent her angry messages about her behavior. Ricardo Morales, an individual who messaged Ortega, claimed that shortly after he sent the message, he began receiving angry calls and texts directed at Ortega on his phone. Ortega later confirmed that she had changed the number of her business on Google to Morales’ number.

Francesca Ortega apologizes

In a video posted online, Ortega addressed the controversy. In her video, she claimed that her and her family’s lives were being threatened and that the viral clip did not tell the whole story. “I’m not who they are portraying on that video. That video was taken out of context,” she said. She then admitted that her behavior “was not acceptable.”

“I now understand the full weight it has and how sensitive people are to that, and I am sorry; I’m truly sorry.” Ortega continued. However, she soon began talking about the fallout that the controversial video had brought into her life, claiming the backlash had had a negative effect on her home-cleaning company that she had spent a decade building.

“My employees have bills to pay; they need to work,” Ortega claimed, adding that the situation had been “a complete nightmare.”

Ortega’s video didn’t exactly win anybody over, with many maintaining that she was a Karen. One person quipped, “How to make an apology video without actually apologizing 101.” Another claimed the whole incident had been “an important reminder that what we say and how we say it, matters. Now more than ever. Because the internet will hold you accountable.” A third simply wrote, “Someone take her phone away.”

It seems that people have not accepted Francesa Ortega’s apology, showing that the internet never truly forgets.