Ole Miss Student In Viral Monkey-Noises Video Apologizes — And She’s No Longer Enrolled (UPDATE: Second Student Named)
[UPDATE — November 11, 2026]
The second woman in the video has now been publicly identified as Lauren Mayfield, an Ole Miss student. Mayfield has not apologized for the incident, and she has switched her Instagram account to private.
A fundraiser titled “Stand With Lauren” has been launched for Mayfield on GiveSendGo by Tom Hennessey, who posted before its launch that he had been getting tagged and messaged about “the Ole Miss girls” and wrote that supporters needed to make sure the women “DON’T APOLOGIZE.” At launch on November 10, the campaign carried a $10,000 goal and had raised $4,068. The goal has since been raised to $20,000, and by the morning of November 11 the total had passed $10,000.
Hennessey says the money is meant to cover lost income and opportunities so Mayfield “does not have to fold,” and he has warned he will cancel the fundraiser if she ever disavows his support and apologizes. The campaign page argues Mayfield did nothing wrong because she did not assault anyone or break any law, dismissing the incident as a “juvenile stunt.” The page also blames what it calls “kosher media” for framing the video as racist — language widely recognized as an antisemitic dog whistle.
This is not Hennessey’s first campaign of this kind. He previously created the “Stand With Crystal” fundraiser for a fired Cinnabon worker filmed hurling racist slurs at Black customers, which raised more than $136,000, and set up a campaign for a Texas healthcare worker fired over a bigoted tirade. Slate writer Molly Olmstead has described Hennessey as an avowed white supremacist.
The naming has also swept up the wrong people. A 30-year-old woman named Lauren, who has no connection to the incident and only shares Mayfield’s first name, was flooded with threats and updated her social media bio to read “not the lauren from ole miss.” The Alpha Phi sorority has also pushed back after posts wrongly linked its members to the video by confusing women with similar names.
Ole Miss faced a similar incident in May 2024, when Phi Delta Theta removed a member filmed making monkey noises and gestures at a Black protester during a campus demonstration — an incident that also drew supporters who raised money on that student’s behalf. As of the latest reporting, the university has announced no disciplinary decision in the current case.
The Ole Miss freshman at the center of the viral Ring doorbell video has identified herself, apologized — and she is no longer a student at the university.
Alaina Kunes, 18, was the first woman seen in the 13-second clip, recorded at 8:37 PM on Friday, November 6 outside the apartment of Ole Miss student Jakiyra Metcalf, who lives there with two other Black students. In the video, Kunes beats her chest while she and a second woman make monkey noises and gestures toward the door. The clip has been viewed more than 12 million times.
On Tuesday, November 10, Kunes identified herself publicly and apologized in a statement released through her attorney, Thomas G. Gardiner. She called her actions “insensitive, inappropriate, and deeply harmful,” and said: “I would have never intentionally made those noises or gestures toward a person of color.” She added: “I have apologized to the women and I pray they will forgive me.”
Kunes says she had never met the women in the apartment and was unaware of their race. Her attorney’s letter says her family has received death threats since the video spread, and that she will cooperate fully with the university’s investigation. The letter also notes that while Kunes has ties to Kunes Auto Group, a Wisconsin dealership chain, she has never worked there.
The University of Mississippi has confirmed that Kunes is no longer enrolled as a student. The school has not said whether she was expelled or withdrew — NBC News reports that she withdrew. The university’s investigation is ongoing through its Office of Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct and its Office of Equal Opportunity and Regulatory Compliance. The second woman seen making noises in the video has since been publicly identified as Lauren Mayfield (see the update at the top of this story).
In a statement issued Sunday, November 8, Ole Miss Vice Chancellor Shawnboda Mead called the behavior in the video “deeply troubling, hurtful, and unacceptable.”
Reporting: the “Stand With Lauren” campaign page on GiveSendGo and Tom Hennessey’s public posts (Nov. 10–11), and Slate’s characterization of Hennessey; original story reporting: NBC News, the Clarion Ledger and People.
