The Phillies “Pistachio girl” who sells nuts at home baseball games got the boot after revealing some controversial views last month at a Washington white-supremacy conference.
Emily Youcis, 26, who worked as a food vendor at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Stadium, has been fired by Aramark, the food company that hired her, according to the New York Post.
Youcis found herself in the middle of a peaceful protest that turned violent outside a white-nationalism conference that she was attending, reported WUSA 9, and she was heard asking one protester, “Do you hate white people?”
The question prompted a protester to spray paint Youcis’ hair, and then a fight broke out as protesters began to attack the photographer who was accompanying her.
“I think they’re the racists here,” Youcis said shortly after the attack, per WUSA 9. “Because I’ve been sprayed in the face, I’ve been told to f*** off, they bloodied my cameraman, and stole his phone. They’re the violent people.”
According to the New York Post, Youcis has been vocal about her support of the so-called “alt-right” movement for about 10 months now.
“We’re going to have to terminate you because your social media does not reflect our values,” Youcis said she was told by Aramark, The Post noted.
“I’ve never advocated for violence, I’ve never used any sort of racial slurs or anything like that. The worst thing I did was I retweeted [former KKK leader] David Duke,” she said.
Youcis said she wasn't surprised that her beliefs have gotten her fired, saying she’s been waiting for this to happen for years now.
“A core Aramark value is treating everyone with integrity and respect always,” said Aramark, according to Philly.com. “That includes respecting our associates’ right to privacy and dealing with personnel matters confidentially. We can only confirm that the individual asked about is no longer employed after publicly connecting our company to views that contradict our values.”
Despite the negative publicity the alt-right movement has received since the election of Donald Trump, Youcis said it is nothing more than a “white identity movement,” the Post noted.
“This doesn’t mean that we hate anybody – we simply want to find our own identity as Americans…as white Americans, and find our own culture,” she said.
Youcis said she plans to get a lawyer in the aftermath of her termination.
Youcis got the name “Pistachio girl” for her “melodic hawking of peanuts and Cracker Jack at Citizens Bank Park,” Philly.com noted.
“The baseball players love me, they all wave to me,” Youcis said, per the Post. “I was like a god there. I owned that stadium.”