Hours before Miya Ponsetto was arrested for allegedly attacking a Black teen she thought stole her phone in a New York City hotel lobby, she sat for a contentious interview with CBS This Morning co-anchor, Gayle King. The interview with King aired Friday morning, and Ponsetto was arrested in Ventura County, California on Thursday. On Dec. 26, Ponsetto was captured on camera tackling the 14-year-old, who did not actually have her phone. She was accused of racial profiling and dubbed “SoHo Karen” on social media.
In the Dec. 26 video, filmed by the teen’s father, Ponsetto is seen yelling and chasing Keyon Harrold Jr. in the lobby of a hotel. The security camera footage also shows Ponsetto, 22, tackling him. Her phone was found at the hotel later on. In her interview with King, Ponsetto claimed she could have “approached the situation differently, or maybe not yelled at him like that or made him feel… inferior or like I was hurting his feelings.” She said she is a “super sweet” person and did not mean to hurt Harrold.
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King asked her how she could consider herself “super sweet” after she randomly attacked someone. Ponsetto then accused Harrold’s father of attacking her, which the security camera footage shows never happened. Ponsetto then got flustered when King asked her to admit what she did was wrong. At one point, Ponsetto held up her hand and tried to get King to stop the interview, telling her “All right Gayle, enough.” Her lawyer, Sharen H. Ghatan was also seen whispering to Ponsetto, asking her to stop taking.
“This is not about an apology from someone who until a few days ago was claiming she did nothing wrong, and in fact alleged Keyon Harrold Sr. had assaulted her,” Harrold’s parents said in a statement to CBS This Morning. “Someone who targeted a 14-year-old Black child because of the color of his skin.” On Thursday, Ponsetto was arrested by NYPD detectives who flew out to California to detain her. According to TMZ, New York prosecutors are charging her with attempted robbery, endangering the welfare of a child, attempted grand larceny, and attempted assault, all felonies
After Ponsetto was arrested, Ghatan told Entertainment Tonight she was “saddened,” but was “not surprised.” She has not been in contact with Ponsetto since the interview was filmed and Ponsetto’s mother has also not reached out. “So as of right now, I don’t really know how I can assist her,” Ghatan said. “I have a client that is not adhering to the advice that I am giving them. It makes it difficult for me to move forward.”
Another aspect of the interview that shocked viewers was Ponsetto’s decision to wear a baseball cap with “Daddy” printed on it. Ghatan said Ponsetto was “unwilling” to take the hat off during the interview and was “unwilling” to wear clothes appropriate for a television appearance. “And she came off as very uncooperative and frankly disrespectful to both Gayle King and myself,” the attorney told ET.
