KPMG placed a manager who was caught on camera calling a man a “Zionist pig” on leave after billionaire hedge funder Bill Ackman urged the firm to take action.
Nonprofit group StopAntisemitism initially posted the video of a woman and a man, who is offscreen, in a shouting match at the Chelsea Piers Flatiron gym in Manhattan. StopAntisemitism said it identified the woman as Yuen Lee, an assurance manager at KPMG.
In the video, the unidentified man said, “You called me a Zionist pig, you don’t even know anything about me.”
“I actually do, I read books, I’m actually highly educated!” the woman replied.
“Okay, what did you call me?” the man asked.
“A Zionist pig,” the woman said. “Racist, you’re a racist.”
A spokesperson for KPMG US told The Post: “We are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that is free from discrimination. There is no place for discriminatory rhetoric in our firm.”
“The employee has been placed on administrative leave, while we follow our process and procedures.”
Ackman had reposted the video, which has racked up more than 2.5 million views, late Wednesday and tagged KPMG’s social media accounts, adding a question mark.
In the video, the man said: “You’re just recording me. You’re not doing anything with that. I didn’t say anything about you, you called me a Zionist.”
“This man came up to me to comment on my outfit today –” the woman said as she appeared to be wearing a black-and-white keffiyeh tied around her waist.
A keffiyeh is a checkered scarf considered a symbol of solidarity among Palestinians and their supporters. Some Jewish people view it as a symbol of hate, with a group of students, parents and staffers previously demanding the city ban the garment from public schools, as The Post reported.
Later on, the man asked, “Just because I’m white, I’m racist?”
“No!” the woman said as she walked away.
StopAntisemitism wrote in its post: “Meet Yuen Lee, an assurance manager at KPMG. Earlier today, she was filmed calling a Jewish man a ‘Zionist pig’ at Chelsea Piers Flatiron. Imagine being one of her Jewish colleagues @KPMG.”
A LinkedIn profile for Yuen Lee says she has been an advisory manager at KPMG US for nearly two years, and has been with the company for just under six years.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting from Baruch College, according to her profile.
Outraged social media users urged KPMG to respond, with one writing: “Do you think Jewish clients @KPMG paying over $500/hour for services would feel comfortable knowing that #YuenLee thinks they are ‘Zionist pigs.’”
“Fire her or Jewish clients will take their business somewhere else,” another wrote.
Another posted: “I send customers to you. Should we stop?”
“Why go to the gym with a keffiyeh wrapped around your waist, in NYC of all places, unless you are intentionally trying to get attention and create a stir? She had to assume that there might be Jews working out there who might get offended,” yet another wrote. “If nothing else, this shows incredibly poor judgment, especially ironic for someone who works as an assurance manager at KPMG.”
Some others questioned whether social media users were mischaracterizing the video.
“What did he do? Without more context this is only one side of the story,” one user wrote.
Lee did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
