Employee fired for hateful message on Starbucks drink honouring Charlie Kirk

An Ohio woman was stunned to see an offensive message on her Starbucks order honouring Charlie Kirk.

Published on: Sep 23, 2025, 13:54:32 IST

By Sanya Jain

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An Ohio woman was stunned to see an offensive message on her Starbucks order honouring Charlie Kirk. The message, calling her a racist, has since led to the termination of the employee responsible.

An offensive message on a Starbucks cup led to an employee's termination (Representational image)

Autumn Perkins visited a Starbucks location inside Kroger supermarket on Sunday evening and placed an order for Kirk’s favourite drink – a mint majesty with two honeys.

When she received her order, Perkins was shocked to see “racist’s fav drink” written on her cup. "It's time for people to stop this nonsense," Perkins told Fox News Digital.

Employee fired for hateful message

One conversation with the manager revealed that an employee admitted to writing the message. The employee was fired from their job.

“I would agree that people should be fired if they're doing something like this,” Perkins said.

She added that “Charlie stood for respect” and that people need to learn that “actions have consequences”.

“We don't have to agree on everything. We can disagree on a lot of things, but we respect each other,” The Ohio woman added. “We can't communicate and grow if we're disrespecting each other.”

Starbucks issues statement

A Starbucks spokesperson told Fox News that the incident was “unacceptable”.

“Writing this on a cup is unacceptable, and we have clear policies that prohibit negative messages to help preserve a welcoming environment. This Starbucks location is licensed and operated by Kroger. We understand that this associate was terminated by Kroger,” the spokesperson said.

Kroger confirmed the firing in an email on Monday to Fox News Digital. "This behavior does not reflect Kroger’s values," the representative said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sanya Jain
Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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