{"id":386,"date":"2025-09-24T21:10:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T21:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/?p=386"},"modified":"2025-09-24T21:10:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T21:10:31","slug":"customer-orders-charlie-kirks-starbucks-order-and-finds-disturbing-message-written-on-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fasstnews.com\/?p=386","title":{"rendered":"Customer Orders Charlie Kirk\u2019s Starbucks Order And Finds Disturbing Message Written On Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Starbucks employee at a licensed caf\u00e9 inside a Kroger supermarket in Middletown, Ohio, was fired after a customer who ordered conservative activist Charlie Kirk\u2019s preferred drink found the words \u201cracist\u2019s fav drink\u201d written on her cup, according to the customer and statements from Starbucks and Kroger.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The customer, identified as Autumn Perkins of Middletown, said she asked for Kirk\u2019s usual order\u2014a Mint Majesty tea with two honeys\u2014when 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. \u201cIt\u2019s time for people to stop this nonsense,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

In a statement provided to media, Starbucks said, \u201cWriting this on a cup is unacceptable,\u201d and reiterated that the company has \u201cclear policies that prohibit negative messages to help preserve a welcoming environment.\u201d The company emphasized the Middletown caf\u00e9 is \u201clicensed and operated by Kroger\u201d and said it understood \u201cthis associate was terminated by Kroger.\u201d Kroger confirmed the firing, saying in an email the behavior \u201cdoes not reflect Kroger\u2019s values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perkins, who posted a photo of the cup to social media, said she would stop patronizing the chain. \u201cI don\u2019t intend to spend another penny at Starbucks \u2014 and as far as I\u2019m concerned, neither will my children or anybody else in my family who will listen to me,\u201d she said. She also said she supported the firing. \u201cI would agree that people should be fired if they\u2019re doing something like this. Actions have repercussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

The location of the incident\u2014a Starbucks-branded kiosk operated by a third party rather than by the coffee company itself\u2014was 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.<\/p>\n

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The Middletown outlet is one of many Starbucks caf\u00e9s 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\u2019s \u201csignature\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In the days after his death, petitions circulated urging Starbucks to add \u201cThe Charlie Kirk\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

The company also moved last week to head off confusion about what names customers may request on their cups as the trend grew. \u201cThere are no restrictions on customers using Charlie Kirk\u2019s name on their order, and we are following up with our team,\u201d Starbucks said in a Sept. 16 update on its website.<\/p>\n

A longer post the same day said the chain was clarifying internally that customers can use names \u201cincluding the name Charlie Kirk\u201d and reiterated that baristas are instructed to avoid writing political slogans or negative messages.<\/p>\n

Starbucks\u2019 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 \u201cnot written by a Starbucks partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company contrasted those cases with its general guidance against any negative or divisive messages on cups and said it aims for \u201ca community coffeehouse where everyone feels welcome.\u201d The Middletown incident differs in that, according to Perkins and Kroger\u2019s confirmation, the staffer admitted writing the phrase and was dismissed as a result.<\/p>\n

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. \u201cI feel like Charlie stood for respect \u2014 we don\u2019t have to agree on everything. We can disagree on a lot of things, but we respect each other,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can\u2019t communicate and grow if we\u2019re disrespecting each other.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

The episode added fuel to a broader conversation that has developed around chain caf\u00e9s and political expression in the two weeks since Kirk\u2019s death. In California, an earlier viral clip showed a barista telling a customer \u201cwe can\u2019t do political names\u201d when the customer asked to have \u201cCharlie Kirk\u201d 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\u2019 clarification as it sought to tamp down confusion among baristas and customers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

Coverage of Perkins\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Those reports echoed the key facts: the drink order, the phrase written on the cup, the customer\u2019s complaint to a manager, the employee\u2019s 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\u2019 responses.<\/p>\n

Starbucks\u2019 own press note framed the company\u2019s position as part of a consistent approach to customer names and messages on orders, while reminding readers that many caf\u00e9s bearing its logo are run by licensees with their own employees and disciplinary systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe handwritten notes on our cups are a meaningful way for our baristas to connect with customers,\u201d the company wrote, adding that its policies bar political slogans and negative messages and that it reviews reports \u201ccarefully\u201d when allegations arise. In Middletown, Starbucks\u2019 statement deferred to Kroger\u2019s management of the kiosk and acknowledged the reported termination.<\/p>\n

Perkins\u2019 Facebook post said she joined the \u201cKirk\u2019s drink\u201d trend despite personal misgivings about the company and that the incident affirmed her preference to support a small local Christian coffee shop instead.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s write-up summarized the chain of events and the customer\u2019s vow to boycott the brand. Neither Starbucks nor Kroger identified the employee involved by name.<\/p>\n

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\u2019 stated policy.<\/p>\n

With fans of a prominent public figure actively invoking his name at the counter and in cup requests, Starbucks\u2019 posture\u2014allow the name, forbid negative messages\u2014left little ambiguity about how such a case should be handled.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Local coverage placed the episode at a Kroger-run kiosk in Middletown; national and international outlets carried her account and the companies\u2019 statements to a wider audience. The specific phrase\u2014\u201cracist\u2019s fav drink\u201d\u2014appeared in photos and in multiple reports.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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