Celebrity News June 22, 2012
Karen Klein: Stars React to Bullied Bus Monitor Video
Hollywood is rallying around bus monitor Karen Klein after a video of the grandmother being bullied went viral this week.
The disturbing clip (watch it here) of the hearing impaired woman being cursed at and called names by middle school boys on a bus in Upstate New York has the whole country up in arms, with supporters raising more than $420,000 to help her with early retirement.
"It breaks my heart,” tweeted Ellen DeGeneres. “I'm so moved by the donations. Bullying doesn't end when you grow up. It ends when we stop bullying.”
Anderson Cooper interviewed Klein on “Anderson Cooper 360” and told her, “When I saw this video, I think like most people, I was stunned at how horrible these kids were to you.”
She told him she couldn't hear everything they said, but “would have been a lot more upset if I had.” This was the first time she had ever been verbally abused on the job and just tried to block it out.
As far as Piers Morgan is concerned, the kids should be “expelled.” “I think every one of those kids who abused bus monitor Karen Klein should be expelled. Let them pay the ultimate price for their behavior.”
Ryan Seacrest tweeted his disdain, writing, “no one should have to endure something like this. This upsets me bit.ly/PCIoEf.”
During a “Today” show interview, Matt Lauer told Klein that the video was “one of the most upsetting and depressing things” he had seen in a long time. “I was amazed at your self-restraint.”
In the 10-minute clip, Klein -- who works for the Greece Central School District -- is seen sitting on the bus as children hurl insults like “child rapist.” She later told local media that the most hurtful comment was that her entire family killed themselves, because her son did commit suicide several years ago. Already, two of the boys and a father of a third child have apologized via the Greece, New York police.
“I am so sorry for the way I treated you,” a student named Josh said in statement. “When I saw the video I was disgusted and could not believe I did that. I will never treat anyone this way again.”