A New York City-based Airbnb host has come under fire after a video emerged showing a heated encounter between her a her black guests in which she demands to know which “monkey” will be sleeping on the couch, Daily Mail reported.
Meshach Cisero, owner and executive chef of The Cage Bird in Washington D.C., was due to stay in the Airbnb listing for an apartment in the Upper East Side with four of his friends.
Like many tourists, they were looking to have an enjoyable getaway in New York City.
Cisero first posted a video to his Twitter Saturday night in which he explained that he and his friends had been kicked out of their Airbnb.
In the video, he says he and his friends were harassed by the host of the apartment before being kicked out onto the street at 2 am.
“I would like for you guys to record and repost this as much as possible,” Cisero tells his followers at the beginning of the video.
“Our Airbnb host treated us very disrespectfully,” he continued.
He goes on to explain that the host complained Cisero and his friends were making too much noise inside the apartment, and claims she racially profiled the group.
“She called us criminals,” he says, “she used racial slurs such as ‘monkeys’ to describe us.”
The host also complained that she felt “threatened” by the group’s presence inside the apartment.
Kate, the host of the listing, argued with Cisero and his friends over the apartment’s accommodations.
They insisted the listing said it could accommodate five people, because there were two beds and a couch. But Kate argued that in fact it could only accommodate four people.
Cisero uploaded a photo of the listing to Twitter, and while it does state there are two beds, it’s also made clear that Cisero and four other guests will be staying at the apartment.
A video was also posted to Cisero’s Twitter which shows part of their argument with Kate.
At the beginning of the clip, Cisero can be seen arguing the details of the description with the host while someone records the encounter from the other side of the hallway.
“It says four,” Kate says, and then repeats this several more times.
“Four and a couch,” Cisero argues. “So that’s five.”
The video also reveals the moment where Kate ask which “monkey” will be sleeping on the couch.
After she says the racial slur, the men in the video can be heard repeating her words in disbelief before the recording finishes.
After Kate insisted the group get out of the apartment, Cisero said she barged in on them while they were packing, armed with a camera.
They asked her to respect their privacy, since of the friends had just gotten out of the shower. But Kate stayed and continued her tirade and called the group “criminals”, adding that she didn’t feel “safe.”
Cisero said, “She became so angry, rude, and disrespectful that we had to call @NYPD because we weren’t sure if she’d attack us while trying to leave.”
The group was later able to find a hotel to stay the night in.
Cisero’s tweets about the incident have since gone viral, and Airbnb has responded to the thread and expressed their apologies.
Airbnb told Daily Mail in a statement that they do not condone of host Kate’s behavior and that she is no longer allowed to use the platform.
“The language used in this video is unacceptable and has no place in the Airbnb community,” said spokesman Ben Breit.
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“We have a strict nondiscrimination policy, which we are enforcing to remove the host from our platform. We are supporting Mr. Cisero and his friends in getting them a new place to stay through our Open Doors policy. We’re thankful to them for bringing this to our attention so we could take action.”
Cisero has since taken to his social media to let his followers know he and his friends didn’t let this incident ruin their weekend in New York.
“We could have allowed what took place Friday [to] ruin our weekend, leave a lasting impression on our lives for the negative, and rob us of our job but naw,” he wrote in an Instagram post, adding that he and his friends put on their “Gladiator” suits and still had fun in the city.
h/t: Daily Mail
