Alaina Kunes

Introduction

Alaina Kunes, an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Mississippi, admitted on November 10, 2026 that she was one of the women recorded making racist monkey noises and gestures outside the off-campus apartment of three Black Ole Miss students — a Ring doorbell video shared on TikTok by student Jakiyra Metcalf that drew almost 13 million views and a university investigation . In a statement issued through her attorney, Kunes apologized to the students, said she had been unaware of their race, and committed to cooperating with the university’s probe . Hours later, a spokesperson for her lawyer confirmed that Kunes had voluntarily withdrawn from Ole Miss — and that she was not suspended or asked to leave the Oxford campus . The backlash has also cast a fresh spotlight on her family’s Wisconsin automotive empire, Kunes Auto Group, which is now fighting an active racism lawsuit filed by a former customer in August 2026 .

Background Information

Kunes was an 18-year-old freshman at Ole Miss when the November 6, 2026 incident was recorded . Her family ties run through Kunes Auto Group: her grandfather, Gregg Kunes, owns the Wisconsin-based dealership group, which operates roughly 50 stores across four Midwestern states, and her father, Scott Kunes, served as its chief operating officer until February . The company says Alaina Kunes has “no employment, ownership, or professional affiliation” with the business . The dealership chain is separately fighting an active lawsuit: in August 2026, Wisconsin customer Makayla Starks, who identifies as biracial, sued Kunes Buick GMC of Oak Creek and an employee identified in the suit only as John Doe, alleging that after a complimentary oil change in early 2025 the N-word was printed on the service sticker placed on her windshield, and claiming emotional distress, humiliation, and anxiety . The company said in a social media statement at the time that it was “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,” adding, “There is no place for racism or discrimination within our dealership or community” . In 2026 another Kunes customer also complained that a salesman sent her a racist text message; the company says it “immediately terminated the employees involved” in both incidents and publicly called the conduct unacceptable . Those lawsuits and complaints involve the family business, not Kunes personally; she holds no role in the company, and no report connects her to them.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Identified, admitted, and withdrawn. Kunes does not dispute the video: her own statement admits she made the noises and gestures captured on the Ring camera. She has since withdrawn from Ole Miss, and her attorney’s spokesperson says the departure was voluntary — she was neither suspended nor asked to leave. The university’s student-conduct investigation remains open, and no criminal charge has been reported in the incident. The racism lawsuit against her family’s dealership chain is a separate matter involving its own employees; the company says she has no role in it.

On the evening of November 6, 2026, a Ring doorbell camera outside an off-campus apartment — the home of three Black Ole Miss students — recorded three young women walking past the door; two of them stepped toward the camera beating their chests and mimicking monkey noises and gestures, a racist trope directed at the residents inside, before bursting into laughter and walking away, while a third woman glanced at the door and silently walked past . The footage, recorded just after 8:30 p.m. by the family of one of the targeted students, spread online over the weekend after Metcalf shared it on TikTok, and the university on Sunday condemned the behavior as “deeply troubling, hurtful, and unacceptable” .

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Shawnboda Mead said the behavior “does not reflect our university’s values,” confirmed the incident was being “actively investigated,” and stated that “racism and actions that disparage people because of an aspect of their identity have no place in our campus community” . The school announced on Monday that it was opening a formal review through its Office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct and its Office of Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance, which noted that federal privacy law limits what it can share about individual students or any potential disciplinary action .

On November 10, Kunes was publicly identified as one of the three women and issued an apology through her attorney: “To the women I offended and to the Ole Miss community, I sincerely apologize,” she wrote, adding, “Before the incident on November 6, I never met the women involved and was unaware of their race. However, I recognize my actions were insensitive, inappropriate, and deeply harmful” . “I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color,” the statement continued, saying she had personally apologized to the residents; Action News 5 reported that a second woman seen making the gestures has not been identified or come forward, and Kunes remains the only member of the trio to publicly confirm her involvement .

Kunes also said she and her family have received death threats and harassment since she was identified online, and asked for privacy for her family . A TMZ report attributing her departure to harassment from “enraged students and members of the local community” was rejected by her lawyer’s spokesperson — “that is not true,” the representative said . Hours after the apology was released, the same spokesperson confirmed Kunes had “temporarily abandoned her studies” and voluntarily withdrawn, adding that she was not suspended or asked to leave campus and declining to discuss the exact date of, or her reasons for, the departure . The story’s second act has pulled the family business back into the dock: coverage of Kunes’s admission reported that Kunes Auto Group is currently fighting Starks’s lawsuit over the 2025 sticker incident, and a company spokesperson used the renewed attention to confirm that Scott Kunes left the company in February and that Alaina Kunes has no employment, ownership, or professional affiliation with the dealership group .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The clip spread nationwide over the weekend of November 7–8, drawing almost 13 million views after Metcalf posted it on TikTok . CBS 58 noted the video was “getting a lot of attention across the nation,” and Ole Miss’s Black Student Union issued a statement condemning the incident and calling for a full investigation, appropriate disciplinary action, and support for the targeted student . The university said it had reached out to those targeted to offer information, resources, and support . Kunes’s identification online was followed by death threats and harassment against her and her family, which she disclosed in her apology statement; coverage of her admission also revived public criticism of the family dealership chain, whose 2025 slur-on-a-service-sticker complaint had already drawn protest — and which, as of November 10, faces an active lawsuit by the customer at the center of that incident .

Current Status

As of November 10, 2026, Kunes has withdrawn from the University of Mississippi — a departure her attorney’s spokesperson confirms was voluntary, stating she “was not suspended or asked to leave,” while declining to give the date or her reasons . The student-conduct investigation remains open, and Kunes has said she intends to cooperate fully with it . She has not been charged with any crime, and no criminal referral in the incident has been reported; her apology takes responsibility for the gestures while maintaining that she did not know the residents’ race . The second woman seen making gestures in the video has not been identified, and the university has not named any other student in connection with the incident . The family business, meanwhile, is fighting Starks’s August 2026 lawsuit, which names the Oak Creek dealership and a John Doe employee; Kunes Auto Group says it terminated the employees involved in both prior incidents, and that Kunes herself has no role in the company .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Kunes’s time at Ole Miss ended in her first semester on campus, four days after the recorded incident, with her lawyers taking the unusual step of publicly confirming the departure was her own decision rather than university discipline . Because she is tied to a regional dealership family, the fallout reached beyond campus: coverage of her admission dragged Kunes Auto Group back into a racial controversy within two years of the 2025 sticker complaint, with both prior incidents now cited side by side in national reporting on the video — and the company publicly distancing itself, noting she holds no role there . The renewed attention has also put an active legal fight inside the family business back in the headlines: Starks’s suit, filed in August 2026 over the sticker incident, is ongoing, and the company responded to the new coverage by confirming her father’s February departure and her own lack of affiliation . Her statement frames her next steps around taking responsibility and learning from what she called an embarrassing ordeal, cooperating with the university process, and privacy for her family; whether any university finding follows her to another institution is not publicly known .

Sources

• NY Post, “Ole Miss coed caught making racist monkey noises outside black students’ door drops out,” November 10, 2026 — source
• NY Post, “Ole Miss student apologizes for racist stunt caught on Ring camera,” November 10, 2026 — source
• NY Post, “Ole Miss launches investigation into white women who made racist monkey noises outside black students’ apartment,” November 9, 2026 — source
• NY Post, “Family business of Ole Miss student who made monkey noises outside black students’ door hit with lawsuit over racism claims,” November 10, 2026 — source
• WBBJ-TV/Action News 5 (WMC), “Woman apologizes after racist gestures caught on camera outside Ole Miss students’ apartment,” November 10, 2026 — source
• CBS 58, “Ole Miss student under fire for doorbell video issues public apology,” November 10, 2026 — source
• WCVB/WAPT, “Ole Miss student apologizes after video shows women making racist gestures,” November 10, 2026 — source
• @nypost on X, “Ole Miss coed caught making racist monkey noises outside black students’ door drops out,” November 10, 2026 — source
• @nypost on X, “Ole Miss coed who made monkey noises outside black students’ door fesses up - as dad’s biz comes under fire,” November 10, 2026 — source
• @nypost on X, “Family business of Ole Miss student who made monkey noises outside black students’ door hit with lawsuit over racism claims,” November 10, 2026 — source