Wow, it’s almost like we haven’t learned our lesson when it comes to ruining people’s lives over context-free video clips.
In the latest update regarding the Wisconsin Cinnabon employee — the “Cinnabon Karen,” to many social media users — who was fired for a rant against a Muslim couple in which she used the n-word, it turns out that not only did she have a mixed-race child, but she lost him just after his 10th birthday because of a rare neurological disorder.
Crystal Wilsey, 43, is now the subject of a social media whirlwind. The Dec. 5 video from the Cinnabon in Green Bay, Wisconsin, was initially attributed to a disagreement over caramel sauce, although numerous reports on social media say that Wilsey was sexually harassed by the individuals to goad her into a rant. Video seems to support that:
A MAN in your store sexually harassed her, and here is some of that video
At the beginning, he says, “sexualizing your body makes you a better person”.
WHERE IS THE STORE VIDEO? pic.twitter.com/vK4eO8ufD4
— Archetype (@EmilVicale) December 7, 2025
That being said, nobody denies that her words were inappropriate: “I am racist, and you are a n*****!” Don’t do that, or anything else that can be classified as “unhinged.” That should be takeaway No. 1 from this sad saga.
But takeaway No. 2 is to not judge a person from a short clip, which can be deceptive. From the U.K. Daily Mail on Monday evening:
Now, Daily Mail can reveal that despite Wilsey’s apparent hatred of minorities, she had a mixed-race son who died 11 years ago of a rare neurological disorder.
Jovani Abel Valadez died on November 22, 2014, a week after his 10th birthday, after a long battle with Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).
The little boy was Wilsey’s second of five children, to at least two different men, and his father Juan Valadez Jr’s family is originally from Mexico.
Wilsey wrote online after her son’s death that Jovani passed holding her hands with friends and family by his side after his health rapidly went downhill over four days… Wilsey explained Jovani developed aspirated pneumonia, which caused fluid to build up in his lungs. This is a well-known ALD side effect caused by the patient’s nervous system damage making it difficult to swallow.
“I thought he was going to get thru this but no no no that was not the case… I lost a huge piece of my heart this day,” she wrote on social media.
“He was still fighting til the end amazingly how that little guy kept going, but his body just kept shutting down on him slowly but then rapidly.”
“I question myself daily how am I still going how can I keep going, but then I pray for strength to get me through the pain because as the days and nights still pass the pain gets worse but I still manage to get through with a smile.”
Now, consider the characterization of “Wilsey’s apparent hatred of minorities.” Even putting the facts of the article aside, I refuse to characterize many people by a few seconds of their life if a crime wasn’t committed during those seconds, and that certainly applies to this.
Also, while I refuse to say that this is entirely exculpatory, I’ll note that parents of mixed-race children tend not to be solid candidates for covert Klan membership. Just saying.
In fact, this whole thing almost sounded like someone was goaded into saying things they ordinarily wouldn’t and was carrying no small amount of baggage. And, wouldn’t you know, that’s what both the reports on social media and through the Daily Mail seem to confirm. It also seems, if reports are correct, that the left may be eating one of its own:
Paid Democrat influencer @harryjsisson has released a YouTube video that blatantly lies about the woman in the infamous Cinnabon clip.
To the degree that we have any information about this woman’s political views, she appears to be a Biden/Harris supporter and pro-choice. After… pic.twitter.com/7hrYYGSIVO
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) December 8, 2025
Yes, what this looks like is the butt-end of a horrid exchange between a whole lot of people who need to learn civility. That goes for the individuals behind the camera as well as those in front of it.
However, it’s yet another lesson in a bedrock fact that we’ve learned since the wokeness era began in earnest: A snapshot of a fracas is not indicative of the fracas as a whole.
That’s especially true for a spat between customers and a Cinnabon employee blown up to make it look as if the mother of a mixed-race child who died of a neurological condition is, in fact, an irredeemable racist.
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