Aaron Schlossberg makes his first public statement since he was filmed verbally abusing restaurant workers for speaking Spanish

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

It’s a dance as old as time. First comes the racist outburst filmed by a passerby and shared across the world, then comes the sheepish Twitter apology and the promise that a piece of unedited footage doesn’t reflect the “real me”.

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Aaron Schlossberg, who became the most villainous man in New York last week after he verbally abused workers for speaking Spanish in a midtown Manhattan restaurant, has finally commented on his outburst.

Following the current trend to make public statements by taking a screengrab of a word document, Schlossberg apologised to the people he insulted, and said that he moved to New York “because of the remarkable diversity offered in this wonderful city”.

Inevitably, he assured people that his outburst was “not the person I am”, and the video “did not convey the real me”, bolding up the word “not” for extra contrition points. Presumably the string of other occasions that Schlossberg has been accused of racially abusing strangers, including being filmed calling a man on the street “an ugly fucking foreigner” also aren’t the real him.

Groups of protestors held a “Latin party” outside Schlossberg’s home on Friday evening, complete with mariachi bands and a taco truck.

Play Video 0:40 Mariachi band performs as part of protest outside Aaron Schlossberg's home – video

Schlossberg did not say whether his week-late apology was motivated by people leaving negative Yelp reviews for his law firm and numerous complaints made against him by elected officials to the New York court system.