By admin 
A Starbucks employee at a licensed café inside a Kroger supermarket in Middletown, Ohio, was fired after a customer who ordered conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s preferred drink found the words “racist’s fav drink” written on her cup, according to the customer and statements from Starbucks and Kroger.
The incident occurred Sunday evening and prompted swift disciplinary action by the store operator, Kroger, and a public condemnation from Starbucks, which said the message violated company policy and noted the location is run under license by the grocer.
The customer, identified as Autumn Perkins of Middletown, said she asked for Kirk’s usual order—a Mint Majesty tea with two honeys—when she visited the Starbucks kiosk in a Kroger on Towne Boulevard. Perkins said that when her drink was handed across the counter she saw the handwritten phrase on the cup. “It’s time for people to stop this nonsense,” she said, adding that she brought the cup to a manager, who investigated. She said staff told her the employee admitted to writing the message and was dismissed.
In a statement provided to media, Starbucks said, “Writing this on a cup is unacceptable,” and reiterated that the company has “clear policies that prohibit negative messages to help preserve a welcoming environment.” The company emphasized the Middletown café is “licensed and operated by Kroger” and said it understood “this associate was terminated by Kroger.” Kroger confirmed the firing, saying in an email the behavior “does not reflect Kroger’s values.”
Perkins, who posted a photo of the cup to social media, said she would stop patronizing the chain. “I don’t intend to spend another penny at Starbucks — and as far as I’m concerned, neither will my children or anybody else in my family who will listen to me,” she said. She also said she supported the firing. “I would agree that people should be fired if they’re doing something like this. Actions have repercussions.”
The location of the incident—a Starbucks-branded kiosk operated by a third party rather than by the coffee company itself—was relevant to how the companies responded. Starbucks said its brand standards prohibit political or negative messages on cups and that the message seen in Middletown was contrary to those rules. Kroger, which manages staffing at its licensed Starbucks counters, told local and national outlets it had dismissed the employee after confirming what happened.
The Middletown outlet is one of many Starbucks cafés licensed to retailers rather than run by Starbucks directly. The kiosk sits inside a Kroger on Towne Boulevard in the Butler County city, which is in the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Local television station WKRC, citing accounts first reported by national outlets, said Perkins ordered Kirk’s “signature” drink and then discovered the inscription as she picked it up. The station corroborated that a firing followed after the employee admitted to writing the words.
The message on the cup referenced Kirk, 31, a high-profile conservative organizer whose supporters have been honoring him by ordering his preferred tea following his fatal shooting on Sept. 10 during a campus appearance in Utah.
In the days after his death, petitions circulated urging Starbucks to add “The Charlie Kirk” to its official menu, and short videos of customers asking for his beverage spread widely on social platforms. Starbucks has not added the drink to menus but has acknowledged the phenomenon, which has driven a surge of orders for Mint Majesty tea with honey.
The company also moved last week to head off confusion about what names customers may request on their cups as the trend grew. “There are no restrictions on customers using Charlie Kirk’s name on their order, and we are following up with our team,” Starbucks said in a Sept. 16 update on its website.
A longer post the same day said the chain was clarifying internally that customers can use names “including the name Charlie Kirk” and reiterated that baristas are instructed to avoid writing political slogans or negative messages.
Starbucks’ corporate note added that, in other recent viral clips alleging anti-Kirk notations, a review of store video suggested the remarks were added to cups after handoff and “not written by a Starbucks partner.”
The company contrasted those cases with its general guidance against any negative or divisive messages on cups and said it aims for “a community coffeehouse where everyone feels welcome.” The Middletown incident differs in that, according to Perkins and Kroger’s confirmation, the staffer admitted writing the phrase and was dismissed as a result.
Perkins told reporters she viewed her order as an act of respect for a public figure whose family had urged mourners to respond with civility. “I feel like Charlie stood for respect — we don’t have to agree on everything. We can disagree on a lot of things, but we respect each other,” she said. “We can’t communicate and grow if we’re disrespecting each other.” She said she had often stopped at Starbucks because of its ubiquity when traveling, but that the episode convinced her to avoid the chain in the future.
The episode added fuel to a broader conversation that has developed around chain cafés and political expression in the two weeks since Kirk’s death. In California, an earlier viral clip showed a barista telling a customer “we can’t do political names” when the customer asked to have “Charlie Kirk” written on a Starbucks cup; the company said the interaction did not reflect policy and reiterated that names themselves are permitted, while slogans are not. The Independent, which reported on the video, quoted Starbucks’ clarification as it sought to tamp down confusion among baristas and customers.
Coverage of Perkins’ complaint spread quickly across national and international outlets on Monday and Tuesday, with detailed accounts carried by Fox News Digital and the New York Post and summaries published by Times of India and Hindustan Times.
Those reports echoed the key facts: the drink order, the phrase written on the cup, the customer’s complaint to a manager, the employee’s admission and dismissal, and statements from Starbucks and Kroger. Local media in Cincinnati also picked up the story, situating the incident in Middletown and pointing readers to the companies’ responses.
Starbucks’ own press note framed the company’s position as part of a consistent approach to customer names and messages on orders, while reminding readers that many cafés bearing its logo are run by licensees with their own employees and disciplinary systems.
“We believe handwritten notes on our cups are a meaningful way for our baristas to connect with customers,” the company wrote, adding that its policies bar political slogans and negative messages and that it reviews reports “carefully” when allegations arise. In Middletown, Starbucks’ statement deferred to Kroger’s management of the kiosk and acknowledged the reported termination.
Perkins’ Facebook post said she joined the “Kirk’s drink” trend despite personal misgivings about the company and that the incident affirmed her preference to support a small local Christian coffee shop instead.
UNILAD and other outlets reproduced portions of her social-media message, including her identification of the store location and a photo of the cup. AOL’s write-up summarized the chain of events and the customer’s vow to boycott the brand. Neither Starbucks nor Kroger identified the employee involved by name.
The Middletown case sits within a larger pattern of brand management challenges that emerge when political and cultural flash points migrate into retail settings. In this instance, the companies involved were able to investigate quickly and announce an outcome within hours, aided by the admission Perkins said she was told about and by the clear conflict between the written message and Starbucks’ stated policy.
With fans of a prominent public figure actively invoking his name at the counter and in cup requests, Starbucks’ posture—allow the name, forbid negative messages—left little ambiguity about how such a case should be handled.
By Tuesday morning in Ohio, the practical aftermath was clear. Kroger had fired the barista, Starbucks had denounced the writing on the cup and re-upped its guidance on names and messages, and Perkins had gone public with her intention not to return as a customer.
Local coverage placed the episode at a Kroger-run kiosk in Middletown; national and international outlets carried her account and the companies’ statements to a wider audience. The specific phrase—“racist’s fav drink”—appeared in photos and in multiple reports.
The broader debate over whether national brands can stay neutral when patrons bring political identities to the counter is likely to continue, but in this case the message on the cup drew a straightforward outcome under rules that both companies say are designed to keep retail spaces welcoming to all.
