UPPER WEST SIDE, NEW YORK CITY: Amy Cooper was undoubtedly not the first "Karen" on the internet but she definitely rose to the top of the trope after calling the cops on a black birdwatcher in Central Park in 2020. It has been more than two years since the incident took place but Cooper, dubbed as “Central Park Karen," still continues to grab the headlines. Most recently, she lost an appeal to be reinstated to her finance job.
Cooper was sacked by investment company Franklin Templeton in May 2020 after a video of her making a fake harassment claim against Christian Cooper went viral. A year later, she filed a lawsuit alleging that Franklin Templeton discriminated against her based on race and defamed her before unjustly firing her. However, her accusations were rejected by the court in September 2022. Cooper then filed another appeal to be reinstated to her job, but the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan dismissed the appeal in June 2023, saying she did not prove that her former employer illegally dismissed her on the basis of race or defamed her by branding her a racist.
Where is Amy Cooper now?
Following the infamous incident, Cooper reportedly moved back to Canada, where she went to school at the University of Waterloo. Not much has been disclosed about her current situation. In 2020, Cooper sparked a fierce outrage after a video went viral that showed her calling the cops on another park-goer, who asked her to leash her dog as per the park regulations. The incident took place at around 8:00 am on May 25, when Christian had been birdwatching and was interrupted during the quiet pursuit by Amy loudly calling after her dog.
In the clip, Christian was heard responding calmly to an agitated Cooper, who refused his request to leash his dog. The birdwatcher then beckoned the dog toward him with a dog treat but she yelled "Don't you touch my dog!" When Christian started recording Cooper’s tantrum, she threatened to call the police on him, saying "I'm going to tell them there's an African-American man threatening my life." She then pulls out her phone and begins calling the police. As Cooper spoke to the 911 operator, her dog appeared to be struggling to place its feet on the ground. "Please send the cops immediately," Amy said on the phone, standing a distance away from Christian.
The aftermath of Cooper’s action
Later, Christian's sister posted the video on Twitter, where it garnered 40 million views before being taken down. Following widespread criticism, Cooper was charged in July 2020 with filing a false report regarding the confrontation with Christian. The charges were soon dismissed by the authorities. However, she was met with other repercussions in the wake of the incident. Franklin Templeton Investments, the asset management firm that previously employed Cooper, announced its decision to "terminate" her the day after the clip went viral. Ahead of her firing, Amy spoke to WNBC in an attempt to apologize for her actions. "It was unacceptable. And you know words are just words and I can't undo what I did," she said. Cooper not just lost her job but also surrendered her dog after concerns about her treatment of Henry surfaced due to the video.
