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Family business of Ole Miss student who made monkey noises outside black students’ door hit with lawsuit over racism claims

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Cite

Morrison, E. (2026, November 11). Family business of Ole Miss student who made monkey noises outside black students’ door hit with lawsuit over racism claims. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/11/10/us-news/family-business-of-ole-miss-student-who-made-monkey-noises-outside-black-students-door-hit-with-lawsuit-over-racism-claims/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

New York Post · collected 2026-11-11 · by Ella Morrison

Quick Summary

The family of Alaina Kunes, an Ole Miss student who was caught on video making racist monkey noises outside a black students' apartment, is facing legal issues over racism claims at their Wisconsin-based automotive company, Kunes Auto Group. The company has been sued by Makayla Starks for placing a service sticker with the N-word on her car windshield after she purchased a vehicle from one of its dealerships in 2025. Additionally, another customer reported receiving racist messages from a salesman at Kunes Auto Group. These incidents highlight ongoing racism concerns within the family's business empire despite public statements condemning such behavior.
Written by AI on 2026-11-11, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) launched an investigation after a video showing two white students making monkey sounds and gestures outside the apartment door of three Black students went viral on social media. The incident occurred when Jakiyra Metcalf, a freshman at Ole Miss, shared footage from her Ring doorbell camera with her mother Tasha Bolton on Facebook. In response to the video, Ole Miss condemned the "offensive, hurtful, and unacceptable behaviors" depicted and stated that it does not reflect the university's values. One of the students involved, Alaina Kunes, apologized for her actions in a statement released on November 10th, acknowledging that she was unaware of the residents' race until the video gained national attention.

Written for “Ole Miss Investigates Racist Incidents” on 2026-11-11, grounded in this article and the 4 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans left for article 143760 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-11-11

Story

Ole Miss Investigates Racist Incidents
Education · 5 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 33% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
33%
6 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
5
Education
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-11 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 18722 article(s) · 39 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 39 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ella Morrison
102 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
“He was screaming at the top of his lungs, which is a good thing in the baby world, I would guess,” the sheriff noted.
Kunes is the only one out of the trio who has publicly confirmed her involvement in the disgusting scene, telling CBS 58 News: “I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color.”
Based on Fowler’s deposition, “he does not have the current experience or training that would be required to obtain or retain privileges to place central lines at many, if not most, major healthcare institutions today,” Dr Gail A. Van Norman, professor emeritus of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington said in a declaration obtained by the publication.
“And I knew it was serious.” She remained at Apa’s side until medics from the marathon arrived, and only left Central Park once the runner was placed on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance. At that point, Nicholas “just thought about what else I could do” and then scrolled through the names of the 61,000 runners who participated to find Rachel.
While the results were still rolling in after midnight, the Democrats won control of the Senate and are projected to win in the House.
“We understand the concerns this incident may raise within our community and want to reassure our citizens that we remain dedicated to fulfilling our responsibilities with professionalism, integrity, and transparency.”
Construction crews first wrecked the owls’ nest while dismantling a water tower on the Upper West Side building earlier this week, and DEC police ordered demolition to stop so the agency could investigate potential violations.
The convicted murderer, 50, was set to be the first woman put to death in Tennessee in over 200 years, but instead became the first prisoner ever to survive after being given the lethal drugs.
The Red Baron rep is “requesting privacy” after the social media stunt and the funds will be directly transferred to him, according to Oakenshield.
William Shatner paid a heartfelt tribute to his fellow “Star Trek” co-star Patrick Stewart who died at age 86 on Wednesday after a brief battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy Body dementia.
Also by Ella Morrison
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 102 articles by Ella Morrison →

Topics

Kunes Auto Group Ole Miss TMZ University of Mississippi Wisconsin

Subjects

Kunes Auto Group ORG · 3× Ole Miss ORG · 3× Starks PERSON · 3× Wisconsin GPE · 3× Kunes ORG · 2× Scott Kunes PERSON · 2× TMZ ORG · 2× Alaina Kunes PERSON · 1× Midwestern NORP · 1× University of Mississippi ORG · 1×

Narrative

Ole Miss officials announced on Monday that they were launching an investigation into the sickening ring-doorbell-camera footage time-stamped Nov. 6, 2026, at approximately 8:37 p.m., which shows two women beating their chests and making monkey noises toward the camera, before bursting into laughter as they walk away.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-11
Kunes is the only one out of the trio who has publicly confirmed her involvement in the disgusting scene, telling CBS 58 News: “I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color.”

Claims (18 extracted, 6 hedged)

The family of the Ole Miss student caught making racist monkey noises and gestures on camera outside of an apartment shared by three black students is embroiled in their own legal battle stemming from racism allegations. asserted
family → catch → allegations
Alaina Kunes, 18, one of three University of Mississippi students identified in the viral video shared over the weekend, publicly apologized for the incident Tuesday — but the backlash has cast a spotlight on her family’s Wisconsin-based automotive empire. asserted
backlash → identify → empire
Her father, Scott Kunes, is the former COO of Wisconsin-based Kunes Auto Group, which is currently fighting a lawsuit over alleged workplace racism involving one of its employees, according to court documents obtained by TMZ. uncertain
which → base → TMZ
The student’s grandfather also holds an executive position within the company, the outlet reported. asserted
outlet → hold → company
Kunes Auto Group — which owns some 50 dealerships across four Midwestern states — was slapped with a lawsuit in August 2026 after Wisconsin woman Makayla Starks claimed she was subject to racism at one of its dealerships. asserted
she → own → dealerships
Starks purchased her car from the Kunes Buick GMC of Oak Creek in early 2025 and went back months later for a complimentary oil change, TMZ reported, citing the court docs. asserted
TMZ → purchase → docs
After the oil change, the N-word was reportedly printed on a service sticker that was placed on her windshield. uncertain
that → print → windshield
Starks, who identifies as biracial, said she cried in her car for 20 minutes after seeing the sickening sticker, Wisconsin Law Journal reported. asserted
Journal → identify → sticker
At the time, the company said in a social media statement, “We are deeply disturbed and saddened by the incident that has come to light involving one of our employees and a customer, her sense of safety and dignity,” according to the outlet. “We want to be unequivocal: this behavior and the hateful sentiment it implies are absolutely against our values as a company. uncertain
it → say → company
In the suit — which names the dealership and a man identified as John Doe as defendants — Starks claims she suffered emotional distress, humiliation and anxiety. uncertain
she → name → distress
Earlier this year, another Kunes customer reportedly complained that a salesman sent her a racist text message featuring a photo of a dancing ape wearing a bathing suit. uncertain
salesman → complain → suit
In both of those incidents, “Kunes Auto Group immediately terminated the employees involved and publicly stated that the conduct was unacceptable and against its values,” according to a spokesperson for the company. uncertain
conduct → terminate → company
Scott Kunes left the auto company in February, the spokesperson confirmed to The Post. asserted
spokesperson → leave → Post
The Ole Miss student also “has no employment, ownership, or professional affiliation” with the company, they added. asserted
they → have → company
Ole Miss officials announced on Monday that they were launching an investigation into the sickening ring-doorbell-camera footage time-stamped Nov. 6, 2026, at approximately 8:37 p.m., which shows two women beating their chests and making monkey noises toward the camera, before bursting into laughter as they walk away. asserted
they → announce → laughter
A third woman with them is then seen glancing at the door as she silently walks past. asserted
she → see → door
Kunes is the only one out of the trio who has publicly confirmed her involvement in the disgusting scene, telling CBS 58 News: “I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color.” asserted
I → confirm → color
She noted that she’s also personally apologized to the insulted women. asserted
she → note → women
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