The Starbucks reportedly needed to shut briefly after the accusations have been made.

Last week, a viral photograph prompt {that a} Starbucks barista wrote “loser :)” on a drink order positioned to allegedly honor the late activist Charlie Kirk.

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However, retailer surveillance video later confirmed the phrase was not on the cup when it left the store.

The Starbucks, positioned within the Norwood Park neighborhood of Chicago, has pushed again towards claims that considered one of its staff mocked the conservative buyer who positioned the order.

A Starbucks spokesperson stated that the time-stamped video from the shop at 6332 N. Northwest Highway didn’t present any staff writing the insult. Instead, the corporate famous that the message was “added after the beverage was handed off, likely by someone else,” in keeping with a press release to Block Club Chicago.

The story first appeared on-line when Jacqueline Garretson (@jacgarretson) shared images on X on Sept. 16, 2025. She is the Illinois director of The Conservative Caucus, in keeping with her profile on X.

Garretson claimed the picture got here from a relative and confirmed a cup of what was apparently Kirk’s favourite Starbucks order. The drink in query was a Mint Majesty tea with two pumps of honey. Someone wrote “loser :)” throughout the cup in black marker, the identical form of marker staff use for affirmations and names.

Garretson’s social media accounts often make claims of anti-conservative bias. In prior posts, she has criticized native college districts, politicians, and public officers.

She continued to submit concerning the incident over the subsequent days, sharing extra images and movies utilizing the hashtag #LoserGate. Garretson pressed the corporate for extra info.

“I have not been contacted by a store manager or district manager. I have not been contacted by corporate,” she tweeted on Friday. Garretson additionally requested “the full, uninterrupted video footage of the incident in question be provided without delay.”

As her posts unfold, the Norwood Park Starbucks briefly closed its doorways. In a press release on Tuesday, Starbucks defined, “Most customers use their own name. And when a customer wants to use a different name—including the name Charlie Kirk—when ordering their drink in our café, we aim to respect their preference.”

The assertion added that the markers used on Starbucks cups aren’t unique to the corporate. It added, “the markers we use to write on cups are accessible to anyone. And therefore, notes can be easily added to a cup by others after the drink has been handed off by our baristas.”

Online backlash and ongoing dispute

Though Starbucks has not recognized who wrote the insult, many on-line observers suspected the message was added outdoors the shop. Some of us on social media accused Garretson of trying to create a viral controversy by marking the cup herself.

Echoing many individuals’s ideas, one individual wrote, “Insane that some ppl unironically think that a random Starbucks employee knew what Charlie Kirk’s favorite slop juice was.”

“Conservatives need to stop making Charlie Kirk’s death funny because this is getting ridiculous are you trying to make this man’s death a meme?” tweeted one other on X.

@SCJGaminggg added, “This being fake quite literally encapsulates the republican and far right party. They want outrage and are willing to fake it to get it. And they don’t care about whether or not it hurts someone.”

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