As the wait goes on for the ‘Phillies Karen’ to break cover and tell her side of the story, she might be encouraged to speak out after learning that there are some people sympathizing with her.
The woman sparked a wild online backlash on Friday night at the Phillies vs Marlins MLB game in Florida when she confronted a dad who had claimed a loose home run ball and yelled at him until he took it off his young son and gave it to her.
She was defiant in the face of booing from the fans around her, even being caught on camera flipping the bird at one stage. But despite so much footage showing her in a bad light, some fans have started to feel bad for her.
Taking to Reddit, one user wrote: ‘Anyone finding they have a bit of sympathy for Phillies Karen? I saw the video and I see a man come several seats over to retrieve a ball that fell right in front of a woman around our age.
‘And I have to say, all the patriarchy focused rage in me very well could have resulted in a similar action from me…however once I saw it was for the boy and not the grown man, I wouldn’t have pursued it.
‘But part of me is thinking good on her…how many times have things been snatched away from us by a man?!’
A Phillies fan (in white) went viral after screaming in the face of a man who beat her to a HR ball
The woman – now known as ‘Phillies Karen’ – is beginning to get sympathy from fans online
In a different thread, there was a similar sentiment.
‘The “Phillies Karen” did absolutely nothing wrong,’ the post said. ‘I’m sure everyone has seen the video of the woman, dubbed the Phillies Karen, going over to get a ball back from a dad and his kid, what everyone hasn’t seen is the video of the ratty father running over several seats to go and snatch the ball that landed in front of the woman in question.
‘She did absolutely nothing wrong and is now going to get witch hunted for absolutely no reason.’
While most of the replies disagreed, it wasn’t unanimous.
One response compared the incident to a similar viral US Open moment, where a young boy had a cap gifted to him from Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak snatched away by a man who turned out to be a CEO.
‘It’s not like that CEO that snatched a cap from a kid’s hand,’ the comment said. ‘It’s a bit more of grey area and it depends how close her hands were to the ball or if they were on them.
‘It’s maybe just maybe a woman sticking up for herself …? Could she have handled it better ? Should he have relaxed knowing it was for a kid ? Yes to both but we don’t know she wasn’t getting it for a kid back home.’
Another user said that ‘Karen’ was wrong for her actions but the public backlash had gone too far, commenting: I think the pile on and gloating needs to stop at this point. It’s been 48 hrs, let’s all move on. There are much bigger issues.’
A second video showed the woman being booed, before sticking her middle finger up to crowd
Lincoln Feltwell was the nine-year-old boy who had to hand the ball to the woman as she yelled at his father, Drew.
But in an interview with NBC Philadelphia, even Drew portrayed sympathy for how strong the outrage being aimed at the woman was becoming.
‘She brought that on herself,’ he said. ‘I don’t want her life ruind but she brought that on. She’s going to pay for that and it’s not by my hand.
‘I don’t wish any harm on her. Maybe she was in the moment. I am not going to defend her.’
