‘Enough’, says SoHo Karen when confronted by Gayle King

“CBS This Morning” anchor Gayle King confronted Miya Ponsetto, called SoHo Karen, who physically assaulted a 14-year-old black child after falsely accusing him of stealing his cell phone.

“Miya, help me understand,” King began his interview with Ponsetto, part of which aired on Friday morning on CBS. “What made you think that Keyon [Harrold Jr.] had your phone? That’s why I’m confused. Because you thought he had? “

In the viral video recorded on Saturday, Ponsetto, 22, yells at Keyon and his father, who repeatedly explain that her phone is not in her possession. Ponsetto, who is from Piru, in eastern Ventura County, continues to pursue them, ordering the manager of the Arlo Hotel in New York to confiscate the phone number she falsely claims to be hers.

In separate surveillance footage, Ponsetto is seen chasing and attacking Keyon in the hotel lobby. According to the New York Times, Arlo later informed the Harrolds that Ponsetto recovered his hotel phone that day after he was found by an Uber driver.

On Thursday, Ponsetto was arrested in Ventura County after the New York Police Department sent detectives to California with an arrest warrant.

“I was approaching the people who were leaving the hotel, because in my mind, anyone who is leaving is probably … the one who is trying to steal my phone,” Ponsetto told King.

“I admit, yes, I could have approached the situation differently – or maybe I didn’t yell at him like that and make him feel … somehow inferior and make him feel like I’m, like, hurting his feelings because that’s not my intention. I consider myself a super sweet person. I never really wanted it to, like, hurt him or his dad. “

When King asked if she interrogated “everyone in the lobby,” Ponsetto said, “Um, not everyone” and clarified that she spoke to some people “to do my part” while the hotel manager reviewed the security footage. King also challenged the “super sweet” characterization, arguing that Ponsetto’s actions were “very extreme” and did not paint him as “someone who is super sweet”.

“How would you feel,” Ponsetto countered, “if you were alone in New York … and lost the only thing that was stolen from you and that has all the access, the only way for you to come home?” “

Once again, King pushed back.

“I just don’t think I would randomly attack people the way you did,” said King. “When you watch that video, you’re there in your leggings and flip flops, and it looks like you’re going crazy, for lack of a better word.”

Referring to herself as a “girl” for the rest of the interview, Ponsetto apologized “sincerely, from the bottom of my heart” before accusing Keyon’s father of assaulting her (“It looked like you had just attacked the his son, “said King). Ponsetto also suggested that she attacked Keyon just by “yelling at him”.

“Yes, ok, I apologize,” she said. “Can we move on?”

When King continued to pressure her, arguing, “Are you old enough to know better,” Ponsetto interrupted.

“Okay, Gayle! Enough, ”she barked, gesturing down with her hand as her lawyer whispered,” Stop, stop. “

Reflecting on the exchange with his co-anchors, King noted that Ponsetto repeatedly ignored his attorney’s advice during the interview – including a tip for removing his black baseball cap, which had “Daddy” written on it.

“It was an interesting afternoon,” said King, adding: “It is a very sad story, however. I think there is something sad about her and … the trauma she put through this 14 year old teenager. This is not right. “

In a statement provided to “CBS This Morning”, Keyon’s parents said, “This is not an apology from someone who until a few days ago claimed he had done nothing wrong and, in fact, claimed that Keyon Harrold You had assaulted her. Someone who targeted a 14-year-old black child because of the color of her skin. ”

A clip from the interview, posted on Friday on Twitter by “CBS This Morning”, drew harsh criticism from several who condemned Ponsetto as “dangerous”, “disrespectful”, “titled” and a “violent racist”.

“Here is the privilege of ‘SoHo Karen’ when she wears a ‘daddy’ hat for a national interview with Gayle King and cuts her with one hand up and ‘arrives’ while calling herself a ‘sweet girl'”, tweeted Arianna Davis, O’s digital director, The Oprah Magazine.

“Notice how the 22-year-old lady called herself ‘girl’ and the 14-year-old black boy ‘man’ … intentionally positioning herself as a victim / innocent and taking away the teenager’s childhood, catapulting him as the most adult and responsible person, ”wrote Twitter user Kelia Washington. “Language is everything.”

Here are more reactions to King’s interview with Ponsetto, which will air in full on Monday.