Burger King Responds After Employee Was Confronted by Customer for Wearing Blackface on Halloween

Burger King has declared the viral blackface incident that happened at one of their drive-thru windows in Minnesota was “not acceptable” and assured it was taking steps with the franchisee to ensure it “won’t happen again.”

The fast food chain released a statement on Sunday, November 1, to local ABC affiliate KAAL in response to a video that was filmed and quickly went viral on Halloween. In the clip, an unidentified Black customer held a conversation with a white employee at the drive-thru window whose face was painted completely black.

“We are aware of the video and take the matter very seriously,” Burger King said in its statement. “The Franchisee of this location is addressing the situation with his team, manager, and Team Member to ensure everyone involved understands why this is not acceptable and won’t happen again.”

The Mary Sue noted that the statement did not say whether the employee in the video had been disciplined, nor whether she had been seen by any members of management before engaging with customers in blackface, or if anyone had intervened during her shift.

In the video, which was shared by TMZ, the white employee told the customer, who was filming, “I’m just Black today.” When challenged if she thought this was okay, the employee said, “As long as you have a good heart.”

“And so your intentions are good. So that means you, what, Black Lives Matter?” the woman filming asked. The employee responded, “I just wanted to be Black.”

“Why would you want to be Black?” the woman filming countered. “Do you know the struggles that we go through as Black people?” The employee in blackface conceded, “No, I don’t.”

According to KAAL, several online reports have claimed the incident occurred at the Burger King restaurant in Fairbault, Minnesota, but the station has not heard back from BK leadership to confirm the location.

Blackface has long been condemned after it was common in 19th and early 20th Century entertainment, per the Anti-Defamation League. The organization said that the use of blackface “perpetuated a range of negative, belittling and demeaning stereotypes about Black people.”

The controversial video comes on the heels of a viral photo from September 2026 of four high school students in Santa Barbara, California, posing in blackface to mimic an AI-generated image of four young Black boys in school uniforms.

As Globe previously reported, Target came under fire in August 2026 for a since-removed children’s Halloween costume many saw as racist. In a statement shared to its Instagram, the company conceded, “We got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry.” Target vowed to look at “how this happened and what needs to change to ensure this won’t happen again.”