What to know
- Toronto resident Katrina Jessica Brown says she was threatened after objecting to a poster she believes depicts racist imagery at a Scarborough Wimpy’s Diner.
- Brown documented the confrontation in several TikTok videos, where she alleges staff dismissed her concerns and treated her unfairly.
- Wimpy’s Diner told Now Toronto there was “no mistreatment” and referred questions to its corporate office, which did not respond before publication.
- Brown says the incident reinforced her anti-racism advocacy and inspired a community event aimed at promoting diversity and challenging racism.
A Toronto woman is alleging she was threatened and mistreated after questioning a poster displayed inside a Scarborough Wimpy’s Diner that she says contains racist imagery.
Katrina Jessica Brown documented the encounter in several TikTok videos that have since drawn widespread attention online. Wimpy’s Diner denies there was any mistreatment, while its corporate office had not responded to Now Toronto’s requests for comment by publication.
Why Brown says the poster is racist
“It originates from a 1930s racist vaudeville poster… They would dress up Black babies, and they would put the white stuff around their lips. Why does the Black baby have to look like that?” Brown told Now Toronto. “Perfect flour makes the perfect bread. What do you think that means?… What colour is flour?”
Brown says she was frustrated with the poster, so she took the explanations further on TikTok.
@coolgyalkat Replying to @Raklab 🇨🇦 ♬ original sound – coolgyalkat.artist
What happened at Wimpy’s Diner?
Brown explained that her girlfriend saw the poster and pointed it out to her. That’s when Katrina asked the staff to cover it up, but alleges the Wimpy’s Diner staff responded rudely and dismissively.
“They’re like ‘Oh my God, whatever. Get out of here, I’ll cut you, I’ll slice you,” she explained.
Brown felt threatened and unsafe in the environment.
“We were standing up for ourselves, and I was so worked up because he threatened us multiple times, and I was with my girlfriend. We’re also Black and Gay and like he’s downplaying it and it’s really bad and I know the intention behind it,” she added.
@coolgyalkat ♬ original sound – coolgyalkat.artist
In one TikTok video, Brown highlights the poster while capturing part of her interaction with staff.
Some viewers claimed in the comments that they heard an employee use a racial slur, though Now Toronto could not independently verify the audio.
@coolgyalkat My phone was DEAD all day yesterday. Here u go. Decide for yourself. Was it the poster or the treatment we got after we informed them of the poster. I have lived in Minnesota before as well for four years. I told them this.
♬ original sound – coolgyalkat.artist
Now Toronto reached out to Wimpy’s Diner via email and Instagram DMs on Friday, without a response, and to the phone line on Monday.
An employee who answered the phone said, “There was no mistreatment here,” but told Now Toronto to reach out to the head office for more information.
The corporation did not answer by the time of publication.
What happened next?
Brown says she called the police, who allegedly asked for her phone number and didn’t follow up. She says she also called corporate, who she says messaged her and asked her to meet them.
“I said that the problem was the poster… and the treatment we got after knowing what the poster was. They were completely racist,” she claimed.
Brown says the corporation allegedly didn’t try to rectify the situation.
That’s when she says she decided to post the video to raise awareness online.
“I am light-skinned. My great-great-great-great-grandmother was a slave raped by a plantation… My dad’s mom was a colorist. My own cousin and my sister are fair-skinned, and she benefits from that… Basically, all I’m saying is that I cannot have the privilege of just being higher,” she said.
Brown said her experiences with racism growing up in Minnesota, and what she says she has continued to encounter in Canada, motivated her to become an activist and share her story publicly.
‘Service should be empathetic,’ Brown calls for change
Brown calls for an empathetic staff.
“Service should be empathetic, and they would come from a place of understanding and professionalism,” she said.
Brown adds that a lot of the art hung up is allegedly only from white people, and would love to see diversity embraced in the establishment instead.
An event to bring the community together and challenge racism
Brown said she had already been planning an event called “Diet Racism” to challenge racism and bring the community together. After her experience at Wimpy’s, this incident further pushed her to create this event.
The event also follows a private tragedy involving a Toronto family, for whom she hopes to raise $30,000 through her GoFundMe and ticket sales.
To bring the community together, there will be lectures by Black professors, crafts and other activities.
The event will take place on March 26, 2027.
