What exact racial slurs did Crystal Wilsey allegedly use and where were the recordings or statements published?
Executive summary
Multiple news outlets report that Crystal Wilsey, a Cinnabon employee in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, was filmed repeatedly using the N‑word, saying “I am racist,” mocking a Somali woman’s hijab, flipping off the customers and making other derogatory comments; the video circulated on TikTok and was reposted by outlets such as TMZ, Newsweek, NY Daily News and Atlantablackstar [1] [2] [3] [4]. Reporting locates the recordings to a short viral TikTok clip filmed by the customers at a Bay Park Square mall kiosk in early December 2025 and later amplified by national outlets and social platforms [5] [2] [1].
1. What the videos show, in straight language
Multiple outlets say the primary slur Wilsey used was the N‑word; coverage states she repeatedly used that word during a 29‑second confrontation, declared “I am racist,” mocked a woman’s hijab and made obscene gestures toward a Somali couple who recorded the exchange [6] [2] [1]. News reports and aggregators describe the clip as profanity‑laden and depict Wilsey acknowledging racism aloud in the footage [1] [3].
2. Where the recordings first appeared and how they spread
Initial reporting and an archive summary identify a TikTok clip recorded by the customers at the Cinnabon kiosk in Bay Park Square Mall; that TikTok was the seed that went viral and was later reposted by outlets such as TMZ and covered by national and local news organizations, which published the footage or quoted it [5] [2] [1]. Outlets cite the video’s circulation in early December 2025 as the moment that prompted Cinnabon to say the footage was “disturbing” and led to Wilsey’s firing [5] [4].
3. Exact language reported by sources — what is and isn’t specified
Reporting consistently cites repeated uses of the N‑word and Wilsey’s self‑identification as “a racist” in the recorded exchange; multiple outlets quote the phrase “I am racist, and I’ll say it to the entire world,” and say she used the N‑word near the end of the clip [3] [6] [2]. Sources quote other verbal jabs — mocking a hijab as “witch‑craft bandana” and telling the couple to “suck it” — but do not provide a full verbatim transcript in the material provided here [7] [6]. Available sources do not mention a complete word‑for‑word transcript beyond the quoted excerpts cited above [3] [2].
4. Which outlets published the footage or reported its contents
Newsweek, NY Daily News, Atlantablackstar, BoredPanda, Scallywag & Vagabond and other outlets reported on the viral clip and described or reposted portions of the video; TMZ is specifically named by the New York Daily News as having posted footage, and TikTok is identified as the original platform where customers recorded and posted the clip [2] [1] [4] [7].
5. Disputes, defenses and downstream effects documented in reporting
Coverage shows competing narratives: some donors framed Wilsey as a “hardworking white mom” targeted by customers and raised significant funds on GiveSendGo, while other reporting highlighted the racist language and hateful comments left on the fundraiser page [4] [8]. Wilsey later posted a TikTok defending herself, arguing she could not be racist because of a child in her family, a defense outlets reported and many observers rejected as inadequate in light of the recorded slurs [9] [10].
6. Limits of available reporting and open questions
The provided sources consistently reference use of the N‑word and portions of Wilsey’s remarks, but none supply a full verbatim transcript of every sentence in the exchanged footage; available sources do not mention any independent full transcript or the complete original TikTok URL in the materials provided here [3] [5]. Reports also note the video’s length in one account (about 29 seconds) but differ on some fundraising totals and background details, indicating variation in follow‑up reporting [6] [4] [8].
7. Why this matters — context and media dynamics
The incident illustrates how a short customer‑recorded TikTok can rapidly trigger corporate discipline, national coverage and polarized fundraising campaigns; outlets trace both the explicit racist language on camera and the rapid mobilization of supporters who framed the firing as cancel culture, showing competing social and political reactions around the same footage [5] [8]. Journalistic accounts place emphasis on the on‑camera N‑word usage and Wilsey’s admission of being racist as the key factual anchors prompting Cinnabon’s response [1] [4].