Uber responds after Texas teen says driver kicked him out of car for being gay
The clip, recorded by TikTok user @alexdiarieslive, has gone viral (TikTok)
A gay teen has gone viral on TikTok after posting a video that appears to show an Uber driver cancelling his pre-booked ride moments after he gets in the car.
The TikToker, who goes by the username @alexdiarieslive and, according to another news outlet, is a Hispanic teenager living in Texas, uploaded a video on Wednesday (18 March) that shows him repeatedly asking the driver why he had cancelled the trip. The driver’s response was to ask him to get out of the car. “I’m going to call the police right now, or leave,” the driver can be heard saying in the background.
After @alexdiarieslive gets out of the car, he begins to swear and the Uber driver appears to start filming the incident. Eventually, the TikToker goes inside a building and says: “As soon as I said ‘hello good morning’ with a little f****** gay in my voice that’s when he said ‘oh you’ve got to leave my car.”
After it was posted, the clip went viral and, at the time of writing, has been viewed 3.4 million times. It also received nearly 2500 comments, including one from the official Uber TikTok account.
Uber wrote: “Support team here – we’re sorry to hear this happened – this behavior isn’t okay. Uber does not tolerate discrimination of any kind and can confirm that a specialized team is actively reviewing this incident.”
However, in a follow-up video, @alexdiarieslive claims that Uber haven’t yet given him a satisfactory response: “I did contact Uber and honestly guys, Uber has done nothing… every time I try reporting him they close the chat.”
In the same video, he insists that he didn’t do anything to provoke the driver: “People need to understand there’s something called homophobia, he does not need a reason to cancel the ride he just cancelled the ride because he’s homophobic…’What happened before you recorded?’ Nothing. I said ‘hey good morning’ and then he started tripping.”
This isn’t the first time someone has claimed they were discriminated against by an Uber driver.
Another man also claimed he was kicked out of an Uber in 2020 and punched twice in the face after a driver discovered that he was gay. Earlier that same year, a gay man and his date were told to stop kissing by their driver “because she is a Christian”.
Uber also faced criticism in 2021 after a trans woman said she wasn’t allowed to change her name on the app, resulting in her being misgendered and “outed” while using the app. The platform apologised for her “poor experience” and promised to improve its processes for the future.
PinkNews has reached out to Uber’s press office for comment.
