Uber has banned a customer from using the ride-sharing app while the company investigates a racist rant against an Uber driver captured on a cellphone camera in Northwest D.C.
The one-minute video had some 2.5 million views in several hours after it was posted on Twitter. The highly charged exchange showed a woman, who is white, berating the driver, who is Black. She used racist words when speaking to him, using a racial slur several times. The video also showed the driver telling the woman to “get out” of his face and using curse words.
“The behavior seen in the video is sickening and has no place on the Uber platform or anywhere in society,” according to an Uber spokesperson in an emailed statement.
“My phone’s going to die. You won’t listen. My phone’s going to die,” the woman yells in one of the video’s only brief passages to lack profanity and racism.
The two can be seen face-to-face on a sidewalk in the cellphone video shot from a window above. A parked car with an open rear passenger door can be seen in the video.
It’s unclear from the video how the dispute began.
D.C. police said the ride-share driver did not file a police report but was interviewed by officers from the 2nd District.
The Uber spokesperson said behavior contrary to community guidelines is investigated by a specialized team of safety agents, and the accounts of parties involved are placed on hold until an investigation is completed.
Editor’s note: The video, obtained by the Washingtonian Problems Twitter account, contains racist language and profanity. You can see the video of the exchange here.
