Jakiyra Metcalf and Victoria Johnson have spoken publicly about confronting the white students who made racist monkey gestures outside their Ole Miss apartment.
The two Black roommates, who share a unit near the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford, sat down with CBS Mornings on November 11 to describe what unfolded after they spotted the incident on their Ring doorbell footage. The video, recorded November 6, shows three white women walking past their door, with two of them appearing to make ape noises and beat their chests.
Metcalf and Johnson said they recognized one of the women immediately when they went to confront the group. That student, 18-year-old Alaina Kunes, was quick to apologize. Johnson recalled that Kunes told them the group had done the same thing at four other doors and insisted, “We didn’t mean any harm.”
Johnson pushed back on that account during the interview, noting that she and Metcalf had not seen evidence that any other apartments were targeted. She also said the second woman involved, who has not been publicly identified, escalated rather than backed down when confronted.
Kunes has since withdrawn from the university and released a formal apology through the Chicago law firm Gardiner Koch Weisberg & Wrona. “To the women I offended, and to the Ole Miss community, I sincerely apologize,” she wrote in her statement.
“Before the incident on November 6, I never met the women involved and was unaware of their race; however, I recognize my actions were insensitive, inappropriate, and deeply harmful.”
She continued: “I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color. I have apologized to the women, and I pray they will forgive me.”
Kunes added that she “can never truly understand the pain I have caused them, and it was never my intention.”
The fallout has extended beyond campus. Kunes disclosed that she and her family have been receiving “death threats and harassment” since the video spread online. “I am grateful for the authorities working to ensure our safety,” she wrote. “As I intend to cooperate fully with the University’s investigation, I ask for privacy for my family.”
She concluded: “I understand the seriousness of this situation and remain committed to taking responsibility and learning from this embarrassing ordeal.”
Johnson’s reaction to Kunes’s withdrawal has complicated the narrative of simple victim and perpetrator. “Because over the course of her life, that’s going to affect her too,” Johnson said of Kunes leaving school. “That’s somebody’s child, so that bothers me because I don’t like to see kids.. You know, you just started. These babies, they’re 18.”
She finished: “So, I hate that for the young people, I just wish people will be mindful and just think.”
Metcalf and Johnson described themselves as “hurt and devastated” by the original incident, which occurred when the three white women walked past their front door late on November 6. The Ring camera captured one woman beating her chest while both she and another made what appeared to be monkey noises. A third woman walked past without stopping and does not appear to have participated.
The university’s Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Shawnboda Mead, condemned the behavior in a statement, calling it “deeply troubling, hurtful and unacceptable.” The school has launched an investigation into the incident.