An investment firm’s social media Pride post was trolled after video of an executive from the company allegedly punching a woman at a Pride event went viral.
Moelis & Company, a financial advisory broker-dealer that administers over $230 million in financial assets, posted an anodyne tweet honoring Pride Month last week that didn’t attract much attention.
“Moelis celebrates Pride Month, the extraordinary contributions of the LGBTQ+ community, and our commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace for all,” the company said in its initial tweet.
That all changed on Sunday, when a video showing a person identified as Managing Director Jonathan Kaye decking a woman on Saturday night in Park Slope went viral on X.
“So why did your managing director Jonathan Kaye punch a black woman at Brooklyn Pride yesterday?” @hellosami quote tweeted the company’s post, including a video of the punch, which sent the woman flying out into the street after Kaye swung on her.
According to a report published Monday afternoon by the New York Post, the confrontation wasn’t related to Pride but came after Kaye argued with a group of Pride marchers over Israel’s military operation in Gaza—with Kaye taking the side of Israel in the dispute.
“You guys are on the wrong side,” Kaye reportedly told the group, who then allegedly threw a red liquid on him before he fell over and cut his leg. Kaye’s version of events comes from a source who provided the Post with pictures of Kaye’s clothing after the incident.
The Daily Mail also spoke to “insiders” close to Kaye, who said he was called antisemitic slurs.
Sources told independent reporter Talia Jane that Kaye called people “idiots” and “started attacking people” after the woman who he attacked asked what he’d said.
Moelis & Company’s Pride post was quickly mobbed after the video went viral, with people asking the company what it was going to do about the incident.
“Your employee Jonathan Kaye punched a black woman at Brooklyn Pride yesterday. FIRE HIM IMMEDIATELY and pay reparations to the victims,” posted @BXAntiWar.
“I personally wouldn’t call this ‘celebrating the extraordinary contributions of the LGBTQ+ community’ or a ‘commitment to fostering an inclusive workplace for all,’ added @weedbonger69.
But other posters took Kaye’s side, claiming he’d been assaulted first.
“If you punish him or require he apologize you reward law breakers who feel entitled to do whatever they please for their cause,” posted @MikesExWife. “Stand up for him and don’t bend to the mob.”
Others weren’t optimistic about anything happening to Kaye.
“Based on the seniority of the person that assaulted someone … I genuinely don’t think a lot will happen,” posted @markintime on Sunday.
A statement posted by the company on Sunday evening confirmed that one of its employees was involved in a “serious incident” in Brooklyn the day before and that it’d be conducting an investigation.
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