Retired football great Terrell Owens posted video on Thursday of a confrontation with a Florida neighbor – whom he nicknamed “Karen” – after he said she called deputies to complain about his conduct.
Owens claimed, in an Instagram video with more than 166,000 views Friday morning, that he was walking to his mailbox when a woman yelled at him to stop speeding Wednesday night.
When Owens stopped to answer her, the Hall of Fame wide receiver said she called 911 and waited for deputies to arrive, according to Instagram footage of the former player.
Throughout the 11-minute video, Owens, who is black, kept calling the woman “Karen” as he addressed the camera.
“So when I called her ‘Karen,’ her husband wanted to tell me to stop calling her ‘Karen,'” Owens said. “They thought I was just going to bow down and listen to this whole mess. OKAY. This is where we are America.
“Karen” has become a popular term for white women who call the police to report people of color for seemingly mundane, non-criminal acts.
“She said I came after her. Really ? said Owens. “And then he wondered why I called him ‘Karen’. That’s what the Karens do.”
A Broward County sheriff’s deputy “responded to a disturbance call in the 4000 block of Pelicano Way in Deerfield Beach” around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to a department statement.
“The deputy made contact with a man and woman on site who were having a verbal argument,” the department’s statement said. “The parties have been separated and the situation has been resolved.”
The sheriff declined to identify the woman.
In 911 audio released by the department, a woman told a dispatcher that a man was “driving aggressively and nearly hit me” and then “got out of the car to threaten me.”
“He’s an African American individual,” the woman said.
When asked if the man was armed, she replied, “I don’t know. He got out of the car.”
The dispatcher finally asked, “Do you want an officer to (answer)?”
She replied, “Yes, please.”
In another Instagram post, Owens named the woman he said confronted him and called 911. There was no one by that name listed in the local phone books.
“I want you all to know that this Karen thing is really real,” Owens said. “It’s really real.”
Owens could not immediately be reached for further comment on Friday
Helen Kwong and Brian Hammer contributed.
nbcnews Gt