Amanda Marie Keshner, better known online as Art Van Grow, is an American YouTuber, traveler and artist.[citation needed] She is known for traveling to various states in the United States of America and traveling to other countries.[citation needed] She is also known for custom-built vans and small houses. Amanda has over 6,000 subscribers as of August 2022.[citation needed]
Amanda created her YouTube channel on March 11, 2018, and had started posting her skill in DIY, by crafting small shelters and traveling.[citation needed]
Controversy[]
Incident at a local Home Depot[]
Amanda has started gaining popularity on Reddit and YouTube due to an incident that took place at a local Home Depot in Tukwila, Washington in July of 2022.[1] Before she started recording, Amanda pulled her phone out and recorded the two employees (Hassan and Jamie) at a local retail corporation, citing in the caption that one of the employees called her a "c***". She was asking for $1,000 due to an undisclosed reason. It is believed that the conflict occurred due to her 'influencer discount' being rejected. In her rant following Amanda being escorted, she told one of the employees- Hassan- to "go back to your country", citing that Hassan was born and grew up in another country that is currently undisclosed. She also lectures viewers to "go back to their country" if they are being disrespectful to American residents. Amanda also mentions that the employee called her a "f***ing c***" after advising the employee to "go back to his country".
According to Amanda on her Facebook, the two employees were transferred to another state, and the two apologized for the incident and would pay her the $1,000. She also claimed that Hassan took accountability for his actions.[2]
The internet defended the two employees by calling out Amanda for her racist comments against Hassan. Due to Amanda posting the full video on her Instagram, her social media was flooded with backlash on her Instagram page, and on her YouTube channel. Her Instagram page- @artvangrow- was shut down shortly following the incident, but it would later be restored. Her other pages, @art.vangrow and her personal page @the_s.e.e.d was becoming heavily disliked due to the incident.
Response[]
On August 2, 2022, Amanda took it to Facebook, responding to the allegations. She shows a screenshot of her receiving 1,930 emails, all supposedly "death threats". She continues to state that the emails that were given were sent to authorities for investigation. Amanda also claims that she was not apologetic for her behavior towards Hassan- one of the two employees, or apologetic towards Jamie- the other employee, because of Amanda's PTSD. She also added that being called a 'c***' was deemed sexual harassment, and backs it up by claiming that she was abused multiple times in the past.[3]
Amanda proceeded to privatize her two available Instagram accounts, @art.vangrow and @the.s.e.e.d.
Response from Home Depot[]
Amanda was featured by Karens In The Wild- a channel that does compilation of public freakouts. Amanda was the headliner for the video titled 'Entitled Karen Gets Home Depot Employees Fired + Bonus'. The official Home Depot YouTube channel responded to the title and video, stating that the employees were not fired, but never should have been put in the position Amanda put them through.[4]
References[]
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeDepot/comments/wd0wcc/go_back_to_your_fking_country_home_depot/
- ↑ https://gyazo.com/9b5a9e9c37e5ae685cb321ae3a8d4a15
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/ArtVanGrow/posts/pfbid0cYzEiGEVt8f4ma62bdmQpSHhvMpDAZMVgByzNvpJVM2tTC2hH8EokhumYuK7H5bfl
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh7bcOV0vVc&lc=Ugz-D7OCmKyeWt9NmGh4AaABAg