Footage of a woman attacking staff at a San Francisco restaurant after the bartender cut her off has gone mega-viral. In the clip, another woman steps in and body slams the belligerent bar patron. Now the woman who intervened is sharing her side of the viral altercation.
In the video of the intoxicated woman, later identified as Shireen Afkari, she shoves her phone into the face of the Hazie’s bar manager. She slurs her speech and claims she was being harassed.
How Did The Altercation Turn Physical?
As she turns away from the manager, she punches the phone of the person recording the altercation. Another angle of the situation shows her going after another staff member, who swiftly flips Afkari to the ground.
Afkari quickly gets back up and tries to attack several other restaurant workers.
The altercation heads outside as restaurant staff physically remove Afkari and her partner. Afkari grabs the hair of one staff member and refuses to let go. As he retreats into the restaurant, she follows him, and he trips her.
Afkari was later arrested, per NBC, for public intoxication and fired from her job once social media users identified her.
Did Staff Members Speak Up?
The woman who bodyslammed Afkari, who goes by MicLovin (@miclovin) on TikTok, shared her POV of the viral bar fight. She clarifies that she was not working at Hazie’s the night of the incident but stopped by to say hello to her friend who was on the clock.
As soon as she walked in, she says she noticed the couple getting “pissed” but didn’t expect it to escalate. As it turned out, the manager refused to serve her more alcohol after she began hurling insults at him, per MicLovin.
“She sits down, and the manager ends up dropping their group’s drinks off, and Shireen goes, ‘You have the face of an a——,'” MicLovin recounts in the video with over 1.5 million views. The manager, she says, picked up the drinks without saying anything and took them away.
“Immediately whips her phone out,” she continues. “Walks around, starts recording.”
She says she decided to step in when Afkari punched several people at the bar, where she was sitting. “I didn’t even go outside after that. I was watching everything through the window,” she says.
What About The Bartender?
MicLovin isn’t the only staff member to share their side of the story.
The bartender who tripped Afkari, Miguel Marchese, was reportedly fired by Hazie’s after the incident, sparking outrage.
In a TikTok, Marchese (@miss_little_ranter) says he was left with no choice but to “neutralize” the situation after Afkari came after him again.
According to TMZ, Marchese and other staff members filed a claim with the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement the same month as the incident for wage theft.
He told another news site, KRON4, that he believes this may have been a factor in the restaurant firing him.
In an interview with the San Francisco Standard, Marchese claims he declined a $5,000 severance package from Hazie’s, which would have required him to stay quiet and not pursue legal action. A PR representative who was at the interview with Marchese noted that he “[plans] to take legal action in some form.”
A spokesperson for Hazie’s told BroBible in an email, “All we can say is that we do not agree with his assertions.”
How Did Viewers React To The Viral Body Slam?
In the comments of MicLovin’s video, viewers praised her for her swift move that temporarily prevented Afkari from going after more of the bar’s patrons and staff.
“Judo slam you are my hero,” one joked.
A second wrote, “Big fan here. I have implemented your technique into my crime fighting.”
“That slam was BADASS. The way you flipped her and then just sat back down. You’re going to be a folk hero among service workers,” another viewer suggested.
In the comments, MicLovin says she’ll consider making a tutorial for her viral body slam in a later TikTok.
BroBible reached out ti MicLovin via TikTok direct message and comment and to Marchese via email for further comment. We will update the story when they reply.