Is The Lead Of The Upcoming 'Karen' Slasher Flick A Karen IRL?

Well, folks, it was bound to happen: After several years, countless memes, and an onslaught of videos depicting entitled white women calling the cops on Black people for some type of sinister shits and giggles, it seems the film we never really needed but oh-so truly deserved is upon us – a Karen-themed slasher flick.

Detailing "a racist, entitled white woman in the South terrorizes her new Black neighbors," per Karen's IMDB page, the film's brand-new trailer became instant fodder for the Twitter-verse's endless supply of roasts, with users questioning whether or not the movie is really just an SNL parody …

… a bad Lifetime movie … 

… or a cheap knockoff of the groundbreaking 2017 horror film, Get Out (thinking of Jordan Peele's Twitter mentions in these trying times).

Despite this barrage of jokes, it seems that the production team behind the film absolutely slayed one element of production -- prominently featuring Taryn Manning, an alleged real-life Karen, as the film's eponymous villain. 

Yep, although Manning has been long beloved for her work in Orange is the New Black, 8 Mile, Hustle & Flow, and of course, Britney Spears's iconic 2002 summer smash, Crossroads, it seems the actress may be a Karen after all, a notion evident through her apparent penchant for the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory. Historically tight-lipped about her political inclinations, the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement last June catalyzed Manning, like many others, to speak out about the social issues that matter to her. Yet instead of using her platform of more than one million followers to share important resources or express solidarity, Manning posted a QAnon-inspired post seemingly praising then-President Donald Trump directly after officers gassed peaceful protesters to secure him a photo op in front of St.John's church in Washington D.C. 

“I never pop political but I want to start by saying if I was being attacked the way everyone attacks him I would hold the HOLY BIBLE too,” the star wrote in the since-deleted post, archived in Vulture. “People can feel scared right now. Donald can feel scared too. I do say with all my love in the name of Jesus Christ my savior to be mindful of dragging God into the fake media and trying to pick this choice of his apart. Not about him, it’s about God. This is what I saw, I don’t watch fake news,” she continued, adding the first of the post's four #Q's. “I am happy because Donald chose the power of the sword in his hand #righthand and maybe if we lifted him up rather then tear him apart daily - since he is still in office, wished him the best and that we pray Jesus wrap his wings around the man for heavens sake then he could think straight and make better choices that please all the humans full of hate. Whatever it will take to shush the idle chit chat that is only the devils play time.”

Although delving into fairly explicit QAnon-y territory, referencing the debunked pizzagate conspiracy ("Do you know saved more children from human trafficking than Obama ever did."), and using several of the conspiracy group's buzzwords to encourage George Soros to follow the “#breadceumbs” to find the “#truth,” Manning made a point to let readers know that she is definitely not a trump supporter. "I support humans," Manning wrote, emitting massive "All Lives Matter" energy. “Donald can be very nice actually.” Yikes. 

So folks, here's to hoping Manning was just engaging in some good ‘ol fashioned method acting to prepare her for this role. Please? The last thing we need right now is more Karens. Please make it stop. 

For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram @HuntressThompson_ on TikTok as @HuntressThompson_, and on Twitter @TennesAnyone.