A woman demanded a baseball from a child at a game between the Phillies and Marlins. Cameras captured it, the internet got ahold of it, and the moment was quickly seen by millions.
Overnight, the Phillies fan in question became a viral sensation for all of the wrong reasons.
The saga began when Harrison Bader hit a home run in the woman's direction at LoanDepot Park in Miami. She didn't catch the ball, and the ball was instead recovered by a father, who had run over to grab it for his son. The woman then came over to the father and son, put her hands on the man, demanded the ball and was handed the ball by the stunned dad.
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At that point, "Phillies Karen" was born — but who is she?
Here's what you need to know about the identity of "Phillies Karen" and theories surrounding the saga.
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Who is Phillies Karen?
In this era, the internet seems capable of tracking down the identity of just about anyone involved in a controversy. To this point, that hasn't turned out to be true in the case of "Phillies Karen."
While theories have circulated and at least two women have had to release statements denying they were at the game, there is not yet a credible theory pointing toward the true identity of the Phillies fan in question.
Here's a look at which theories have been debunked.
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Cheryl Richardson-Wagner
The internet mob first found a woman named Cheryl Richardson-Wagner, who strongly denied that she was involved or even cheers for the Phillies at all.
"OK everyone ... I'm NOT the crazy Philly Mom (but I sure would love to be as thin as she is and move as fast) ... and I'm a Red Sox fan," Richardson-Wagner said in a Facebook post. "Apparently, I am trending on Twitter. I wonder if I will get apologies from all of these people when the real culprit is discovered."
In a comment, Richardson-Wagner said she "wasn’t anywhere near Florida" and has "about 20 years and 50 pounds on that woman." Richardson-Wagner also changed her Facebook profile picture to her statement and changed her cover photo to an old Red Sox logo.
Some have speculated that the actual Phillies Karen might be a different woman named Cheryl Wagner, but that speculation has not been proven.
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Leslie Ann Kravitz
The internet also directed its ire toward a woman named Leslie Ann Kravitz, who supposedly worked for Hammonton Public Schools in New Jersey, but that theory appears to have also been debunked. Some speculation claimed "Phillies Karen" was fired from her job, but there is no indication that is accurate.
Some rumors also claimed Richardson-Wagner, not Kravitz, was the employee of Hammonton Public Schools.
The Hammonton School District posted a statement denying the allegations as speculation mounted, writing, "The women identified on social media as 'Phillies Karen' is not, and has never been an employee of the Hammonton Public Schools."
The district joked that anyone involved in the school district "would obviously have caught the ball bare-handed in the first place."
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Phillies Karen video
Here's the Phillies Karen incident as it happened, including the Phillies' outreach to the boy after the scene went viral.
The boy was able to meet Bader after the game and receive signed memorabilia from the Phillies outfielder.
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Phillies Karen public statement
Despite separate statements from Richardson-Wagner and the Hammonton School District in New Jersey, there is no confirmation of the identity of "Phillies Karen" — and therefore no statement from the culprit.
Considering the outrage directed toward the woman for taking the baseball from young Lincoln Feltwell and his father, she probably made the right decision by keeping a low profile in the wake of the incident.
If and when the internet does track down the identity of "Phillies Karen," she might not have a choice but to tell her side of the story.
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